


Scientific Method

by kitkatt0430



Series: Olivarry Bingo 2020 [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Barry is a terrible liar, Barry is an overgrown puppy, Episode s02e08: The Scientist, Episode s02e09: Three Ghosts, Felicity and Dig get the jobs they deserve, Friendship, M/M, Minor Roy Harper/Thea Queen, Minor Tommy Merlyn/Felicity Smoak, Oliver is a flirt, Oliver is trying to be more honest about stuff, Pre-Canon for The Flash, Tommy Merlyn Lives, Tommy and Felicity aren't dating yet, Tommy is a good friend, but they certainly like each other, playing with the timeline, pre Roy/Thea/Sin, season 2 arrow fix-it in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27726512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430
Summary: Barry Allen arrives in Starling City intending to get his foot in the door on a particularly unusual and interesting case.  Maybe find out a little more about the Starling City Vigilante if the topic happened to come up.He did not expect to be saving that Vigilante's life, but the world is a weird place.  Barry's known that much for a very long time, after all.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen, Tommy Merlyn & Oliver Queen
Series: Olivarry Bingo 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020820
Comments: 42
Kudos: 164





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My last entry for Barry Allen Week - Free Day  
> Also for my ongoing Olivarry Bingo works - G2: Plus One
> 
> This started off as Barry being Oliver's plus one to the party instead of Felicity's. Tommy popped up in the background, waved for my attention, and said 'what if we fixed season 2 and added plot? wouldn't that be cool???' And I listened... (why did I listen????)
> 
> Anyway, if Oliver seems out of character it's because having Tommy around and not lying to him twenty-four-seven makes Ollie less stressed. Their friendship is very important to each other and fun to play with here. :D

Barry's day starts something like this. He gets up early and calls a cab for the train station, gets into an argument with the driver over the most efficient route, and winds up late for the first train instead of ten minutes early like he should have been because the cab driver ignored him.

Should've taken the bus, Barry had lamented, sitting in the train station waiting area for the next train to Starling to start boarding.

Once at Starling, Barry's bad luck continues. The first taxi he tries for drives off empty - seriously, what the hell? It's pouring rain and Barry forgot to even check Starling's weather so he doesn't haven an umbrella on him. He's absolutely soaked by the time he manages to flag down another taxi. It's clearly an illegal taxi, but Barry happily takes it anyway and at least this driver is glad for Barry's advice, which lets Barry make up enough time to arrive at the crime scene while the representatives from Queen Consolidated are still on site.

If he can get their permission to investigate the break in, then he hopefully won't have to lie too much about why he's there and people will be less likely to check up on his story. The last thing he needs is Captain Singh bitching him out at work over his off hour hobbies again.

Of course, it works against Barry's favor that he's a shitty liar, but being out of breath and rambling? He hoping that'll cover up any tells he might accidentally give away.

The detective's tone is a familiar combination of amused and annoyed as he asked, "who the hell are you?"

Meanwhile one of the three non-detectives in suits - well there are four non-detectives, but the lady is in a dress, so... - demands incredulously, "and do your parents know that you're here?" He looks like the pictures Barry's seen of Oliver Queen and Barry has to sternly remind himself that he doesn't have time to ogle how nicely the suit fits him.

Actually, the other two men look amazing too, as does the woman with them though. Why are there so many attractive people around to make him even more flustered? This really isn't fair.

Still, Barry's learned a few lessons about successfully barging into the investigations of bizarre events. Namely, fake it 'till you make it. Pretend to belong so no one has a chance to realize you don't. "I'm Barry Allen..." just enough of a pause and then a frown before pulling out his credentials and adding, "from the Central City police department." Just enough confusion in his tone to make it sound like he expected them to be expecting him. "I'm with the crime scene investigation unit. We had a case recently with some similar unexplained elements, so when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain told me to check out if they're related."

Barry tucked away his work credentials, hoping desperately that they were buying this. And that they wouldn't want details on the related case.

"And you think, what, one guy ripped through this door like it was tin foil?" the detective rolled his eyes.

"One very strong guy, yeah." Barry turned on his tablet's screen to the image of the autopsy report - that he really shouldn't have, but wouldn't get into too much trouble for accessing if found out - and held it out for his audience to look at as he explained, "it, uh, it takes about one-thousand two-hundred and fifty foot pounds of torque to break someone's neck. But the bruising pattern on the guard's neck suggests the killer only used one hand. I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck?"

"Hmm?" Queen mumbled, looking up from the tablet's photograph.

"Nope. Not a clue. True crime shows make it look like a six-year-old could do it, honestly," said a dark haired man... Tommy Merlyn, probably. Oliver Queen was currently CEO of Queen Consolidated, but he'd pulled the Merlyn heir into the business with him as his COO. That still left the handsome black guy and the lovely blonde woman unidentified, but Barry was fairly certain about at least those two.

"Ugh, don't even get me started on _CSI_. Half the stuff they do on that show is just made up," Barry griped, earning a grin from Merlyn but an eye-roll from Queen. 

The CSI who actually belonged on site spoke up at that moment, requesting a list of the warehouse's inventory to find out what was missing. Could he really not tell, though? It was kind of obvious...

"Actually, I think I know what was stolen. Or at least, the most obvious thing that was stolen," Barry piped up again, leading the others over to the glaringly obvious place for a missing item he'd seen when walking into the warehouse. "A centrifuge. An industrial centrifuge. Probably a Kord Enterprises 2BX 900... or maybe one of the six series. Both have a three column base and you can see here that there are three sets of broken bolts where the thief just... ripped it out of the ground."

"And what, exactly, is a centrifuge?" the detective asked, though he wasn't dismissing Barry anymore which was a step in the right direction.

"It separates liquids," said the blonde woman before Barry could and he smiled in relief that at least one person knew what he was talking about. "The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate out - lighter objects move to the top." She smiled at Barry and held out a hand. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Barry Allen," he replied, accepting the handshake.

"Felicity Smoak," she offered. 

"Um... anyway, the removal of the centrifuge was done with enough force to not only break the bolts, but crack the base and the floor. Alongside the cracks running towards the door, there's a set of footprints. Only one set. So only one guy. I mean... it's only a theory, but one backed by a lot of evidence."

"There has to be another explanation," the detective grumbled, pulling Smoak away with him for a private conversation... a little weird with Queen and Merlyn right there, but whatever.

Barry'd never expected to get the detective's cooperation anyway.

At least Queen looked convinced and Merlyn and the other guy were intrigued. In fact...

Merlyn clapped the arm of the guy Barry still hadn't learned the name of and then met Barry's eyes for a moment before jerking his head to the side. Barry took that as his obvious cue to follow him away from where Queen was still eying the evidence Barry'd pointed out.

"So, we're looking to keep the investigation in house," Merlyn said quietly, once they were out of earshot of the other police officers milling about. "Queen Consolidated has been the target of a lot of industrial espionage since Moira stepped down just before being arrested for her part in the Undertaking. Oliver picking me as his COO hasn't helped things, at all. That being said, Dig doesn't exactly have a forensics expert on his security team." Merlyn gave Dig - that had to be short for something - a speculative look.

"Yeah, we could use the help, if you'd be willing to consult with us," Dig offered.

Barry grinned brightly. "Yes, that would be great." He shoots, he scores!

"You," Dig gave Merlyn a significant look, "get to explain this to Oliver."

"Yeah, yeah, I know how to handle Ollie," Merlyn grumbled. "Come on kid, you can ride back to the main office with me."

* * *

Oliver really shouldn't be CEO of Queen Consolidated.

It's not the first time Tommy's thought this. It won't be the last, of that he's absolutely certain. Tommy'd rather not be COO and primed to take over as CEO as soon as the press from that move won't tank the company, but there's no one Oliver or Thea trust to run the company more - except Walter, who won't do it - and it is something that Tommy is proving to be fairly good at. Seeing as how he's basically running the company already.

So far, Tommy's instincts haven't lead him astray. When they'd managed to edge Isabel Rochev out of a hostile takeover of Queen Consolidated by one percent of stock, Tommy hadn't thought they'd seen the last of her. Stellmoor International's forty-nine percent stock ownership still gave her, as their Vice President of Acquisitions, an impressive amount of say in their board meetings. Felicity's background check on the woman had given Tommy a starting point for a PI to dig further, given that Rochev had, under a very different last name, previously worked at Queen Consolidated as one of Robert's many secretaries.

Where, exactly, Dibny dug up pictures of Rachel and Robert in the middle of having sexual escapades, well... Tommy never wanted to know. Just seeing those photos once made him want to gouge his eyes out and Ollie and Thea were definitely never allowed to see them. Those horrifying pictures - and their negatives - however came in handy in making Rochev back off. After all, the CEO of Stellmoor wouldn't be thrilled to find out that his VP of Acquisitions was using his company to fund her personal revenge over being slighted by the dead Robert Queen. Last he'd heard, Rochev had resigned from Stellmoor, so she was probably still a potential problem and gunning for Tommy personally now, but... Stellmoor had sold off most of their Queen Consolidated stocks to various third parties. So her initial threat to the Queen family - and now Tommy - was currently negated

Tommy'd also stopped Ollie from sabotaging himself where Felicity and Dig were concerned. Assistant and driver... god, what a waste of talent that would have been. Tommy inserted Dig as their new head of security - with Dig's permission - and moved Felicity up the chain in the science division. She was currently learning the skills necessary to run the department so that once Tommy made CEO he could realistically make her the head of R&D. He wasn't sure Felicity knew that's what he was angling for, but he did know she was enjoying the challenges of her current position a lot more than she would have enjoyed being an administrative assistant. Better still, she was proving to have a talent for team leadership and picking up the other management skills she needed readily enough.

Currently, however, Tommy's instincts were telling him that Barry Allen was an asset. A terrible liar, but asset all the same.

"Hi, Captain Singh?" Still, Tommy was learning to live by the moto 'trust but verify', "this is Tommy Merlyn, COO of Queen Consolidated over in Starling City. We recently had a rather weird break in and one your CSI's happened to be in the area had some interesting insight into the case. I was hoping to get your blessing on asking him to do a consult for us... but also to confirm his identity."

"We do have a Barry Allen on staff as one our Assistant CSIs," Singh confirmed. "He's one of our best, but still relatively new to the job. He's got the next few days off, so assuming that's really Barry then there's no reason for me to object to him helping solve a crime over in Starling." The Captain had a sort of air of amusement and resignation in his voice that made Tommy wonder how often Allen ran off to look into weird cases for himself. "Describe the guy you've got and I can tell you if that's Barry or not."

"About six-foot, brown hair, blue eyes, and the personality of an overgrown puppy," Tommy listed off, grinning when the last bit got him a startled laugh.

"Yeah, that's our CSI. Please remind him we expect him back by Tuesday, regardless of how your case goes, Mr. Merlyn."

Tommy nodded and laughed a little himself. "Will do. Thank you for your help, Captain."

After hanging up the phone, Tommy headed over to where Dig was theoretically breaking the news to Oliver that Tommy'd invited their new CSI friend over to play with them. Odds were Dig had not done so because Dig was both vindictive enough and knew Oliver well enough to keep the subject away from anything potentially Barry Allen related long enough for Tommy to show up. He had told Tommy that he wasn't going to be the one who got thrown under the bus for this decision, even if he did support it.

(Mostly Tommy had come to like and appreciate John Diggle. Even if part of him did still resent having to share 'Oliver's best friend' status with someone else.)

In fact, as Tommy walks into Oliver's office, Dig was saying, "that CSI from Central City was right. The only thing missing was the centrifuge. And Felicity found this on the traffic cameras across from Applied Sciences about three minutes after the alarm went off."

Tommy crossed the room to get a look at it with Oliver. "One guy pulling off a heist that should take a hell of a lot more," Tommy said. "Good thing I asked that CSI to stick around."

"You did what?!" Oliver demanded.

Right on time, Barry Allen poked his head in the room. "Um... where should I set up my equipment?"

"Come on, I'll show you while Mr. Merlyn and Mr. Queen discuss business," Dig said, hurrying off so as not to get caught in yet another argument between the two of them.

"Allen," Tommy called, shit eating grin on his face because, unlike Dig, he was looking forward to the argument. "Your Captain asked me to remind you that you need to be back by Tuesday, no matter how interesting this case proves to be."

"Uh... right. Thanks." Barry Allen went a ridiculous shade of pale as he followed Dig out the door. He probably thought he was so screwed once he got back to Central...

"Tommy," Oliver growled. 

"Oh, stow it. You wanted me to run Queen Consolidated for you, Ollie. That means you're going to have to step back and let me make calls like this sometimes. Besides, forensic science isn't exactly Felicity's forte. Computer forensics, she's your girl. But crime scene analysis? You're not bad that, Ollie, but how much did he pick up on taking a one-minute stroll through the warehouse that you missed?"

"Everything but the footprints," Oliver admitted wryly.

"QC doesn't need yet another unsolved break in for our PR right now and you need a forensics expert to help identify who did the breaking and entering for your extracurricular activities." Tommy crossed his arms, expression serious. "Trust me to take care of this end of things, okay?"

"Alright, alright," Oliver sighed. "I just don't like trusting some guy who popped out of nowhere."

"Which is why I confirmed his identity and spoke to his boss," Tommy replied. "Captain Singh over in Central City got quite the kick out of me describing Allen as an overgrown puppy."

It also seemed to amuse Oliver.

"Keep him out of trouble, Tommy," Oliver relented.

Tommy saluted. "Aye, aye. Go shoot things with arrows. It'll make you feel better. And maybe afterwards you can tell me what it is you're so worried our new CSI friend is going to find."

Oliver hesitated. After Tommy had found out about Oliver being the Hood - now rebranded as the Arrow - they'd fallen out with each other hard. And then Tommy found out his father was a supervillain and they'd worked together to stop him. They'd prevented one of the bombs from going off, but the other... they hadn't made it in time. Tommy had nearly been killed getting Laurel out of her office in the glades. And afterwards, Tommy and Oliver finally had it out.

Well, after Tommy got out of the hospital and was safely convalescing at the Queen family residence, anyway.

Still, it was a big argument over the course of several days and, eventually, Oliver promised not to lie to Tommy about important things anymore. He could refuse to answer because he wasn't comfortable talking about something or because it wasn't his story to tell, but... Oliver wasn't allowed to lie to Tommy or their friendship would find new lows to hit. Tommy wasn't sure he'd ever be able to stop being Ollie's friend for good, but... they'd hit rocky enough ground over the many lies covering up the vigilantism. Neither ever wanted things that bad between them again.

(Tommy was working on getting Ollie to come clean to Thea, but at least he'd seen the wisdom of telling Thea she was Tommy's half sister. Much as Tommy hadn't wanted to dump the burden of being Malcolm Merlyn's child on anyone, he was grateful to have Thea be his sister... and know it too. The first time she'd called him her big brother afterwards... big feelings there, to be sure.)

"There've been... I don't..." Oliver dragged a hand over his face. "There were others on the island," he finally said, which Tommy actually already knew. "One of them he was a friend and he died and it was my fault. He wasn't himself at the end and... some of what we've been running into lately keeps making me think of what happened to him."

"And you're sure he's dead?" Tommy hated to ask, but...

"I'm pretty sure I killed him," Oliver admitted softly, unable to look Tommy in the eyes.

Oh Ollie... there were times when Tommy wished he could strangle Robert for letting Oliver and Sara come along on what he had to have known was a potentially dangerous cruise. Times he wanted to strangle his own dead father for being the one who put the bomb on the boat.

Oliver Queen never should have known what it was like to kill a friend.

Tommy sighed and then hugged Oliver.

"What the hell?"

"Just accept it, Ollie. We're eschewing toxic masculinity and hugging like real menfolk should." Tommy laughed and pulled away, ruffling Oliver hair. "The look on your face..."

"You're an ass," Oliver pouted, walking towards the door. "I'm gonna go shoot stuff with arrows now."

* * *

"So, um, is Dig short for something or..." the CSI asked.

"My name is John Diggle, so most people call me Dig," John replied with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. The kid was pretty clearly twisted into knots, especially after Tommy's parting comment. "You can feel free to do the same."

"Thanks. And, um, please call me Barry." 

"Alright, so where do you want to get started analyzing the scene?" Dig asked, "and how much do you need in lab space?"

"Well, assuming the scene has been released for us to work on? I'd like to analyze the shoe prints. There's way more evidence left behind by shoes than people realize - you can tell everywhere a person has been in those shoes based on the particulates left behind. I mean, like, it's not going to narrow down to an exact place and time, but..." Barry sighed, "I brought my evidence collection kit and some basic equipment, but everything else I'm kind of hoping you guys already have otherwise it'll need to be sent to the Starling crime lab."

"What sort of equipment are we talking about here? Mass spectrometer?" Dig grinned, "because we've got one of those. Pretty sure I saw a chromatograph on the list of applied science tech too."

Barry perked up. "Oh, that's perfect. So if the equipment is all kept in the same place, then I won't even have to go anywhere to analyze the evidence. I can do it all in the same room. That'll be a first."

"We should probably grab Felicity, that way someone authorized to use the equipment is with you during the investigation," Dig mused, pulling out his phone and texting Felicity to have her meet him there.

"So does Queen Consolidated usually investigate break ins internally or is this just a... unique circumstance?" Barry asked as they got into the elevator and Dig pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Fairly unique. We had some... difficulties earlier this year with a former acquaintance of Robert Queen's trying to orchestrate a hostile takeover of the company. There's also been a higher rate of crimes committed against Queen Consolidated since the undertaking. Understandable, given Moira Queen's involvement, but... some of which are starting to stand out as more than just angry backlash over Malcolm Merlyn's attack on the glades."

"So there's a pattern emerging and you're all concerned this crime in particular fits the pattern?" Barry hummed thoughtfully. "Could I maybe see the reports on those crimes? Maybe I can help determine if this new one is linked or not?"

"I'll run it by Tommy, but it's not a bad idea." Dig paused a beat, then asked, "so how long have you been a CSI, anyway?"

"Almost a year. I'm up for a promotion from assistant CSI to CSI level one. All hires straight out of college start at assistant level, though I've actually got my own lab now. Well, because the CSI level three I was assigned to recently quit, but... that probably doesn't exactly inspire confidence in my skills," Barry blushed and ducked his head, running a hand along the back of his neck in a clear nervous habit.

"Being relatively new to the job doesn't reflect poorly on your ability to do it," Dig countered. "So I've been considering that QC's security personnel could do with some training on how to deal with discovering a crime scene. This situation in particular has shown some flaws in the training - while no one disturbed the scene of the theft, they did disturb the murder scene outside."

"Yeah, I heard they moved the body and closed his eyes. Which might not seem like a big deal to most people, but..."

"Now all the evidence of the real murderer has been potentially contaminated," Dig filled in. "Yeah, Detective Lance was pretty pissed off about it. I don't suppose you have any recommendations for training I could use?" Because he was, actually, quite serious about this. 

"Well, if there are any forensic programs nearby, then you could have a professor come in and give a seminar - or multiple seminars - on crime scene etiquette. If not, then the SCPD's crime lab could probably help put something together. Like a crime scene 101 course. Um... that would actually be kind of fun to put together, actually. If you wanted, I could email you some suggestions later?" There was a speculative gleam in his eyes as he started listing out a few basic starting points.

* * *

Barry was a little thrown by Merlyn's comment about Captain Singh earlier - there was definitely an ongoing spiral in the back of his head that Barry was trying to ignore that was absolutely certain he was going to be in so much trouble when he got back to Central - but he'd mostly gotten it out of his head by the time he'd gotten back to the applied science warehouse and started setting up his black lights all around the pedestal base the centrifuge had been previously attached to. He was in his element now, looking for and analyzing clues and it was hard for him to feel anxious while doing the one job that made him feel competent and confident.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Felicity asked as Barry finished setting up the last of the lights.

"Your thief's shoes left some pretty distinct footprints, which means he tracked in dozens of clues telling us where he's been the last few days," Barry said, echoing what he'd told Dig earlier. "The lights make it easier to see the prints and will also cause the more unique clues to fluoresce."

"Got ya," Felicity said, watching while he collected a sample that went straight into the spectrometer next to her. Dig had been called out a few minutes ago to deal with something or other, which left it just the two of them.

Would it be weird if he asked her about the vigilante? Or would it be more weird if he didn't?

Closing the spectrometer and starting the analysis cycle, Barry said absently, "shouldn't take long." This model was way faster and more efficient than the one he had access to at work. But if he was going to get a newer, better model of anything at work it really needed to be a centrifuge (oh the irony) before the one he had finally crapped out for good.

His brain back and forthed over the question of the vigilante a few more times before Barry finally just had to ask, whether it was weird or not, "I've, uh, I've actually heard about you before. You were saved by the vigilante, weren't you?"

"Uh, yeah. That's right. Me and over half the city," Felicity responded dryly.

"What was he like?" Barry leaned in, hoping for any new little detail she might be willing to impart.

"Green."

"Green," Barry echoed. "That's interesting, right? I mean... why green? Black is much better for stealth and urban camouflage. Or dark grays. Personally, I think he trained in some sort of... like... forest or jungle environment and the green is a nod to that."

She shrugged and looked away. "I don't really give the vigilante much thought."

Barry winced. He'd pushed too far apparently. Come off as a weirdo again. "Sorry, that was..." Barry sighed. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Sometimes it felt like the only person he could talk to about any of this was Nate and they communicated on Barry's blog more often than in person. Joe hated vigilantes with the burning passion of a thousand suns, like any other self-respecting cop, so the Starling City vigilante was definitely a taboo subject with him. And Iris was more interested in romanticizing the idea of the vigilante than discussing things like motivations and costume choices and the reasons for choosing carbon arrows over aluminum carbon composites.

"It's fine. You're not the first person to ask me about him," she admitted. "It's just... I'd really rather just put the whole thing behind me, you know?"

"Yeah. Sorry," he repeated. The computer, thankfully, chose that moment to beep, indicating it had completed the analysis. "Huh," Barry said, looking at the read out. "The soil has a crystalline structure imbedded in it."

"What is it?"

"Sugar." Barry frowned. "And it's not like he just stepped in spilled sugar or anything like that either." That'd lead to much higher concentration of sugar and less dirt. Sugar was actually pretty useful for removing odors, stains, and grease, so the higher the concentration of sugar and the more likely it was that the sugar would help clean away other substances.

"Trace amounts of sugar..." Felicity echoed. "I think I know where we're looking for." She grinned and nudged Barry over, taking over the computer and letting her fingers race over the keyboard.

Barry let her at it, wandering off to case the scene a few more times for anything useful he might've missed before dropping into the spare chair and letting his mind wander. He should probably find out when the last train of the night was. Head back home. As curious as he was to know who did the break in, his hotel had lost his reservation. Tomorrow was Sunday and he had Monday off. Maybe he should just... try to enjoy his days off for a change instead of chasing the impossible.

It's what Joe wanted of him. It's what Iris wanted of him. Slow down and relax and stop chasing after fantasies.

But what Barry saw the night his mother died wasn't a fantasy. It was real and he'd never be able to prove it if he gave up like they wanted him to do.

Pulling out his phone, Barry started googling motels in the area instead of the train schedule. Should be a few near the train station he could check into for the night, right?

He thinks he's picked a winner by the time Dig and Queen show up. 

"You found something?" Queen asked as he walked in, striding with purpose and Barry just...

Oliver Queen shouldn't be that hot just walking into a room. It's really not fair. So distracting.

Felicity's on the ball, however, and she confirms, "we found something. There were trace amounts of sucrose in the dirt the killer's boots left behind, which got me thinking. There's a sugar refinery two miles from here and the land around it is suffused in waste sugar. Did a check and found they had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago. A truck that just happens to match to the make and model of truck our thief used to steal the centrifuge."

"Can you track the vehicle?" Dig asked.

"We've been..." Felicity grinned as something on the screen caught her attention. "Would you look at that. The truck... it was just used to rob a blood bank."

"Are you sure?" Barry asked at the same time as Queen. "It's just..." Barry blushed as the others all turned to look at him. "The most commonly known use for a centrifuge is separating out different blood particulates. It's used for separating out plasma, isolating viruses or any drugs in a person's blood stream, checking for antibodies or... someone with that much blood and a centrifuge isn't going to be just a thief - they're going to be using it for some kind of unsanctioned medical experimentation. We need to let the SCPD know what we've found."

"I'll... take care of that," Queen paused a beat. "Didn't you mention a similar case in Central City?"

"Ah..." Barry could practically hear the alarm bells ringing in his head as that lie came back to bite him on the ass. Did he fess up? Did he double down? Oh god, and now his mouth was opening without permission, "looks like they were just superficially similar after all." And now Queen was giving him a suspicious look and Barry's thoughts were definitely heading down the ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION panic line.

"Right," Queen rolled his eyes and turned to Dig, talking in quiet undertones with the man.

Barry sighed. "I guess I should pack up and head to the train station." Definitely time to get out of Starling. He could just... watch the news to find out how this one turned out. Assuming it made the news. At least Dig seemed like a promising contact, even if in a purely professional sense and not a 'gossiping about the vigilante' sense. And he'd helped out with furthering the case.

"You're leaving already?" Felicity asked, sounding surprised and - maybe - a little sad.

Barry shrugged, feeling uncomfortable as the other two men turned to look at him again. "The hotel lost my reservation and since it doesn't really seem like there's anything else I can do for this case, I might as well just head back. Let my Captain know it wasn't related after all." More like panic for two days until he was back at work, thus completely undermining the purpose of taking 'vacation' days, but... whatever.

"You might be able to help out with whatever we... the police find on the truck," Felicity insisted. 

"I doubt the detective assigned to the case is all that interested in my help. Pretty sure he thinks my theory of a single thief here has convinced him I'm crazy." Barry got enough of that at home from Joe and Chyre. He didn't need it here too.

Felicity got into some kind of glaring contest with Queen, which was kind of fascinating to watch. They were definitely more than colleagues with that kind of non-verbal communication going on - even if all Barry could really identify was a blatant 'what? Really???' reaction from Oliver Queen. If not dating then they were definitely close friends.

"Right, well... it was nice meeting all of you," Barry said, standing up and heading over to start packing up his kit. "And I'm glad I could help out."

"If you're interested in sticking around until tomorrow," Queen said in a voice that absolutely did not sound at all forced, "my family home has a guest room you could use." He was glaring at Felicity with a 'hope your happy' sort of stare.

Dig looked like wanted popcorn for this show.

"It'd mean you'd have to brave meeting my mother and sister, so I can understand if you'd rather go back to Central," Queen continued.

Moira Queen, who'd been complicit in the Undertaking even if her decision to come forward before hand did end up saving a lot of lives. From what Barry could tell about the outcome from her trial, it was less being found not guilty and more a stunning example of jury nullification; her lawyer's arguments that Mrs. Queen had been a co-conspirator under duress only had apparently been a very compelling one. 

And Thea Queen was likely just as much a force of nature as the rest of her family. 

But the allure of not sleeping on the train and getting to maybe learn a little more about the case was just compelling enough. Barry was going to risk it. "If you're sure I wouldn't be imposing, then I'd love to. I just... I am really fascinated with this case. I'd love to know how a single person could be strong enough to do all this," he waved at the cracked pedestal and broken bolts.

Queen and Felicity had another unspoken showdown.

"How about I contact Detective Lance and walk him through everything with Dig while you two go get settled at Queen manor," Felicity said.

"Works for me," Dig added, a poorly hidden smirk on his face.

Barry smiled at Oliver Queen, but his expression in return had become rather inscrutable. It gave Barry something of a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. But he fixed the smile on his face anyway - not like that wasn't the one thing he could successfully fake for a reason - and finished packing up his things.

* * *

The only reason Oliver is letting Barry stick around is because Felicity clearly thinks he might still be useful and not at all because he looked like a kicked puppy.

(Okay, so the fact that Barry was attractive might've been the first thing Oliver registered about him. The second being that Barry was very observant and intelligent and probably Trouble of the kind definitely deserving of that capital T.)

Once in the car, Barry immediately said, "it's fine if you were just offering to make Felicity happy. You don't have to put me up for the night. I can find some place else to stay; there are some motels by the train station that I'm sure are fairly nice."

"I wouldn't have offered if it weren't okay, Allen," Oliver told him. "Otherwise I'd have offered to pay for a hotel room for you. And the motels by the train station are kind sketchy, so you're better off staying away from those." Pulling out of the parking lot, he added, "besides, maybe you can do me a favor and reassure my mother not everyone hates her?"

"If her friends are treating her like a social pariah, I'm really not sure how much a stranger will help. Though I don't hate her, so there's that." Barry shrugged when Oliver glanced at him.

"So what really brought you to Starling?" Oliver finally asked. "Tommy didn't tell your boss you lied about him sending you here, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied. Well, I mean, I wouldn't have gotten any of you to listen to me if I hadn't, so..." Barry groaned and buried his face in his hands. Oliver could make out the muffled sound of 'I'm an idiot' which made him smile in amusement. "The case was reported last night while I was still on duty. It sounded interesting and I keep an eye out for seemingly impossible crimes like this. Or they don't even have to be crimes. I guess I just keep hoping that I can prove the impossible is possible."

That much sounded honest and considering how terrible a liar Barry was - the way his voice went up in pitch with every lie was hilarious but a dead give away - that probably meant this was the truth. He was here for the case and not the Vigilante. Oliver. Thinking of himself in the third person was weird.

Anyway. "So you weren't hoping to investigate Starling City's vigilante?"

"Well, I mean, I can't say I wasn't hoping to learn more about the guy," Barry grinned, relaxing even as Oliver tensed back up. "I've got so many theories about him and it'd be awesome to confirm even just one. But... that was more of a 'would make a cool bonus' than anything else."

"What kind of theories?" Oliver asked and was surprised when Barry grimaced.

"I don't want to bore you. I mean... I start talking about Starling's Vigilante and most people tell me to shut up." He looked out the window listlessly. "Which is only slightly less irritating than being told I've 'done that thing where I stopped speaking English'," he muttered.

"Your bilingual? Multi-lingual?" Oliver guessed.

Barry blushed. "Oh, no. I took Spanish in High School and can't remember most of it. Which I really should try to relearn it. Um. My foster sister will say that when I start talking about science. Usually it just means she's not following and needs me to rephrase things."

That still kind of sounded like a rude thing to say, but it's not like Oliver really knew anything about their relationship. "Well, I'm actually pretty interested in the Vigilante myself," Oliver said, steering the conversation back on track. "So you're not going to bore me with your theories. I've actually encountered the Vigilante too. Tommy and I were two of first people he's confirmed to have saved."

"That's right. There are a few other potential sightings that predate the attack on the two of you, but I'm, like, ninety percent certain that you two were first people to actually be rescued by him," Barry's tone perked up. "He's known for wearing green and my personal theory on that is he trained in a forest or jungle. Since blacks or grays would let him blend in better in the city at night, the green has to be a nod to something so it makes sense it would be the place he learned his skills."

"Because he's clearly not trying to blend in. He had to stand out last year, make a name for himself going after the conspirators of the Undertaking," Oliver filled in. It was safe enough speculation for him to repeat. "I have pretty much the same theory, though I thought maybe the color he chose was to honor the person who taught him instead of the place where he learned. I've got to admit, the forest/jungle angle makes a little more sense than honoring his personal Mr. Miyagi."

"Oh, I love that movie," Barry chirped, catching the reference like Oliver had hoped. "He doesn't police his arrows either, which lends itself to the whole trying to stand out and make a name for himself aspect."

"Police his arrows," Oliver echoed, letting himself sound a little confused.

"Oh. I'm not sure that's the right term, but when someone shoots a gun and then collects all the casings to hide the evidence that they were there and where they were shooting from, it's referred to as policing their brass. So in the same vein, retrieving all arrows fired would be policing his arrows," Barry explained smiling when Oliver said the words 'policing his arrows' at the same time he did.

"I'd heard the policing their brass phrase on cop shows, but I don't think I ever really knew what it meant," Oliver said, which was a blatant lie but not one Barry Allen was likely to catch.

"Please, please tell me you don't watch _CSI_ ," Barry begged, prompting Oliver to laugh.

"Too many seasons, too many spin offs," Oliver said, being both reassuring and dismissive all at once. "I wouldn't know where to start. All I really know about the show is their theme song is The Who's _Who Are You_ and that lead guy was really into bugs."

"That show ruined the song for me," Barry grumbled, leaning back in his seat. "Seriously, they have the CSIs doing the detectives jobs for them. Its ridiculous. Most places CSIs don't even get issued a gun. Our badges are laminate."

"What about the show _Bones?_ Because I've been meaning to watch that one and..." he trailed off as Barry held up his hand and made a so-so gesture.

"Depends on the writers and the season. The later the season, the worse the show is though. And I never forgave them for what they did to Zack Addy at the end of season three. That was just bad writing." Barry huffed.

"So you don't recommend the show?"

"Sorry. Bit of a tangent there, I guess. I probably just shouldn't watch cop related shows, but there are so many of them, sometimes it feels like the only kind of show on tv." Barry hummed thoughtfully. "So what kind of theories do you have on the vigilante?"

Well shit. Oliver probably should have considered Barry would want him to contribute theories too, not just agree with or have variations on Barry's theories. He really needed to pay better attention to those reddit forums... "He was working alone initially, but not anymore. He's got at least one person working with him."

"I think so too, probably someone good with computers. Though he seems to be pretty good with technology himself. I loved reading about the arrow with an audio recorder embedded in it. That was just a brilliant idea. It's probably silly, but I want him to be a Hawkeye fan so badly..." Barry blushed when Oliver glanced at him. "He's an archer in Marvel Comics. Deaf archer with a penchant for sarcasm, going head to head with the Russian mafia, and adopting stray dogs."

"Well, I can't speak for the Vigilante, but I'm certainly interested. Maybe I'll have to check out a few issues," Oliver teased, hoping to see Barry blush some more.

Which he did. Barry looked pleased, though, despite how red his face had gone.

Okay, so maybe Oliver had extended the invitation more because the guy was cute than because Felicity was asking (demanding) he do so. He was finally over Laurel and the joking flirtation between himself and Felicity was never actually going to go anywhere (which was a mutual decision) so... why not flirt with a cute guy? It had been way too long since he'd let himself flirt with a cute guy. Since he'd felt comfortable enough in his own skin to flirt with anyone without an ulterior motive. Which... his curiosity about Barry's vigilante theories barely counted.

Besides, it was just flirting, right? It didn't have to mean anything, so there was no pressure there which was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it currently looks like this'll be two chapters per episode being rewritten. But that could easily change (both for shorter or longer) depending on how the next chapter falls out. This still all comes back to the party where Barry will dance with Oliver and possibly even kissing. I'm playing with the timeline here, so that Barry's got more free time before having to rush back to Central, but also the accelerator is a few weeks away. Because this is the start of its own little series now. Which is all Tommy's fault. I'm blaming the character and I feel no remorse for this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've moved events from the second day of "The Scientist" to take place as part of Saturday evening here and cut out one of Barry's scenes with Felicity entirely as a result, but I do think it all flows pretty well. The party will be at the end of the story and more successful than it was in the episode - not by a lot, but anything's better than the canon turnout.
> 
> This chapter moves into a little of the territory for "Three Ghosts" and I need to work in Barry talking about his parents in here somewhere...

Oliver can feel the weight of his mother's eyebrows raising judgmentally the moment he walks into the house with Barry. 

Thea is nowhere in sight, but she's probably busy with Verdant. She's taken really well to running the club for Oliver - he's not sure she's going to let him have the club back when he finally untangles himself from QC, but considering Verdant's business is up under her care that's probably for the best. Seemed both Tommy and Thea were a lot better at running businesses than he was. Possibly because they weren't moonlighting as a vigilante.

"Mother, this is CSI Barry Allen from Central City. He's been helping look into that break in at QC last night." He gestured between the two. "Barry, this is my mother, Moira Queen."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Queen," Barry greeted politely, nervous smile on his face as he offered to shake her hand.

Moira took the handshake politely and gave Barry her polite press smile. "Likewise, Mr. Allen. A CSI in Central City is a little out of his way in Starling; what brought you all the way out here?"

"I, uh," Barry stammered, "I was..."

"He was in town for the day and happened to be in the area when the investigation was going on this morning," Oliver cut in, rolling his eyes. "His hotel lost his reservation, so instead of making him take the late night train back to Central, I offered him one of our guest rooms. He did help out a lot in the investigation - caught things Detective Lance would have missed otherwise."

"Of course you couldn't let him take the train this late," Moira agreed, her smile thawing out to something more genuine. Turning to Barry, she continued saying, "the chairs are absolutely terrible to sleep on. If you come with me, I can show you to your guest room next to Oliver's room. I'd love to hear a little about the investigation, if there's anything you can tell me about it?" To Oliver she added, "call your sister and let her know we're having company for dinner, won't you?"

Oliver watched in amusement as Barry followed after Moira, who started asking questions about his work and could he tell her a little about the break in investigation and what does a mass spectrometer do anyway? Barry seemed to unwind almost immediately, happily trailing after her while discussing science.

His mother is most definitely plotting something and Oliver's probably going to regret this later.

Pulling out his phone, Oliver hit the speed dial for Thea's number. She answered on the second ring with a chipper, "hey Ollie."

"Hey Speedy," he responded, grinning as she made an irritated sound. "How fares Verdant?"

"Busy as ever. Sin showed up. One of her friends went missing, so Roy and I are going to help poke around. See if we can find him." No wonder it didn't sound like the club in the background.

Oliver grimaced. "Be careful, stick close to Roy."

"I can take care of myself," Thea objected. "I've got my mace."

"I'd feel better about that if you'd stuck with your self defense classes from middle school," Oliver retorted dryly.

"So would I," she admitted. "I think it's time I took that back up."

While that didn't make Oliver feel better about her wandering the Glades now any better, it made him hopeful that future Oliver would be able to worry less. Unlikely, but he could hope.

"We've got a guest for the evening. Out of state CSI who helped out with investigating the break in at QC last night. His hotel lost the reservation, so I sicced mom on him." That earned Oliver a laugh. "She's going to want you home for dinner."

"Ugh." Thea sighed. "I'll be there. I'll be late, but I'll be there. Do you think she'll mind if I bring Sin along with Roy too?"

Glancing upstairs and lowering his voice he asked, "do I need to start easing mother into the concept of ethical non-monogamy? Seeing as she's familiar with the unethical version, it shouldn't be too much of a leap for her." Admittedly, he was getting dangerously close to hitting the walls of his own glass house there, but he knew Thea would appreciate the pot shot in hindsight.

Thea choked. "I hate you."

"You love me."

There was a long pause and then Thea sighed. "I dunno. Maybe?"

"Just in case, then."

* * *

Moira Queen is terrifying. Nice enough to Barry, but he has no doubt that were he to ever get on her bad side she'd eviscerate him with absolutely zero remorse. Still, she's letting him sleep in her guest room and join her family for dinner. So Barry's definitely not going to complain.

He might even send her a Christmas card and a little gift. Something inexpensive but heartfelt. Maybe a glass snowflake charm?

(She's mothering him a little bit, Barry can tell. And it makes him miss his own mom a little. Makes him more inclined to like Moira Queen too.)

Dinner is nice. Thea is far more like her mother than she probably realizes, her boyfriend seems very nice, and her friend - girlfriend? - was also very nice. And Barry is maybe, just a little bit, overwhelmed by it all. But somewhere along the way he starts thinking of Oliver by his first name. Kind of hard not to when you see the guy being teased by his friends and family over spaghetti and garlic bread.

Barry heads upstairs with Oliver afterwards, planning to read for a while and then go to sleep. But, somehow, they end up talking about the Vigilante again. More specifically carbon vs. aluminum carbon composite arrows.

"But with the composite arrows he'd have greater penetration," Barry argued.

"I'm sure he thinks he penetrates just fine," Oliver retorted.

They both paused a beat. Barry snickered. Oliver got a wide grin on his face as he cracked up.

"I am so glad Thea left instead of staying to mock us for this conversation," Oliver said, still laughing.

"Thank you," Barry said, putting as much sincerity into the words as he could, "for letting me stay the night. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Oliver replied warmly, and maybe Barry was imagining the way Oliver's eyes swept over him. But then the other man took a step back, placing himself on the other side of the bedroom door. "If you need anything, my room's next door and Thea is across the hall. Don't hesitate to wake her up in the middle of the night first."

"Truly, siblings are the same everywhere," Barry replied with a laugh. "Night, Oliver." He heard a 'goodnight, Barry' in response as he shut the door.

One quick change into pajamas later and a short visit to the en suite bathroom later, and Barry was ready to curl up with his tablet and a good forensics journal. Which then became the _Star Wars: I, Jedi_ book he'd started re-reading on the train that morning. Eventually, though, Barry's eyes wouldn't stay open any more. So he plugged in his tablet and his phone and went to sleep.

It felt like he'd only just shut his eyes when someone started shaking him awake. It was still dark outside as Barry peered up blearily at... Tommy Merlyn?

"What?" Barry'd have asked more, but Merlyn put a finger to his lips in a classic shushing gesture.

"There's an emergency and I need your help. Quietly."

* * *

They could hear Oliver grunt with pain over the comms and the screech of metal. "Ol-Arrow, what happened?" Tommy demanded, trying to do better about keeping names secure over the comms. He was trying to get Felicity and Dig in on it too. Oliver was Arrow, Felicity had Overwatch, Dig was Spartan, and Tommy had just about smothered Oliver for suggesting Oz. Unfortunately Oz had stuck.

At least Felicity had the decency to make werewolf jokes instead of wizard jokes.

"The guy's definitely strong. Threw me and the truck door across the street," Oliver replied, though his voice was strained. "I'm fine. Going to retrieve my bike and head back to base."

Tommy swore under his breath, but sat back. He hated this. Oliver needed it, needed to be the vigilante, and Tommy was trying to be supportive. But he hated the way his friend came back from nights like these covered in bruises. But the nights when Oliver came back with more than just bruises were worse by far.

Of course, when Oliver does get back, his shirt comes off to reveal some truly awful bruising on Oliver's side that Felicity tapes up for him.

Tommy hands Oliver some aspirin and a bottle of water and gives the other man a blank look until he finally accepts both.

"Dig, you and Tommy were right to ask if I'd knew more about this than I was letting on. I've seen men with abilities like this before." Oliver zipped up his gray hoodie and dropped onto Felicity's abandoned chair.

"You have?" Dig frowned, crossing his arms unhappily. "Where?"

"The island." Oliver took another slow drink out of the water bottle Tommy'd given him. "My second year marooned there, we... I came across the remains of a Japanese World War II military project. It was a serum, codenamed Mirakuru, intended to create human weapons."

And that was what his friend on the island was injected with. Why Oliver had to kill him. Tommy closed his eyes and just... tried to keep calm. For Oliver's sake.

Dig, however, was not calm about this. "Human weapons," he echoed incredulously. "What's next, aliens?"

"Next year," Tommy quipped, getting a snort of amusement from Felicity and irritated looks from Oliver and Dig.

"I'm being serious," Oliver insisted. "I saw things in those five years that... some of it just defies explanation." He swallowed hard, gaze growing distant. "There was this doctor. Ivo. He came to the island to recreate the serum and test it on people. The ones that survived... their endurance, reflexes, and strength were all enhanced."

"And you think this Ivo's in Starling City?" Dig asked, tone gentler, having realized they'd hit on something traumatic for Oliver.

"He's dead," Oliver responded flatly. "So is everyone that he injected with the serum. I burned the last of his version of the serum. But that doesn't mean someone else couldn't have found the recipe. And with a centrifuge and a large supply of blood... someone wants to make more of it. A lot more."

"Why couldn't you have been marooned on Aruba?" Felicity muttered, distressed.

Tommy patted her arm and tried not to make a startled eeping noise when she latched onto his hand. She had a strong grip for a computer nerd. He squeezed back gently, rather liking the way her hand felt in his.

"There's a third component," Oliver told them. "A strong sedative. There are a number of sedatives that would do just fine, so I doubt figuring out which one they're using off a blood sample would be helpful, especially since that's probably what they were out stealing when you picked them back up on traffic cams. But I did plant a tracker in the truck before I got thrown out."

Felicity slipped her hand out of Tommy's and shooed Oliver out of her chair. "I'll pull up the tracker, see if I can find their lair," she confirmed, fingers flying across the keyboard.

Oliver's phone rang, but Tommy snatched it from him and checked the caller id before answering.

"Thea, my favorite sister," Tommy trilled happily, "how can I annoy Oliver for you?"

"I thought he'd still be flirting with our house guest," Thea replied, but her voice was a little shaken sounding.

"The guy went to sleep early, Oliver came crying to me about his lack of game. What's wrong? Your voice is all weird."

"I don't lack game," Oliver grumbled. "I've got priorities."

Dig snickered.

"Sin's friend Max went missing last week. We just... found him. Um... he's dead. Cops think it's an overdose but... you have to be clean to give blood and he regularly gave to blood drives. Something stinks about this." Thea sounded really upset about it all. "I'm gonna stay the night at Roy's with him and Sin."

"Alright, text your mom so she doesn't stay up all night waiting for you," Tommy said. "What made the cops think the guy overdosed on something, though?"

"He was bleeding from his eyes before he died," Thea answered.

"Do you want to talk to Ollie?" Tommy asked, ready to hand the phone over.

"Just... let him know we found Sin's friend and it wasn't good, okay? He knew I was headed back out to look for him with Roy and Sin after dinner, so..."

"I'll pass it along," Tommy promised. They said their goodbyes and Tommy dropped the phone back onto the desk.

"What will you pass along? What was that about an overdose?" Oliver demanded.

"Thea said one of Sin's friends had gone missing. Said she mentioned that to you earlier?" Tommy tilted his head to the side, waiting.

"Yeah, artist by the name of Max. They checked out his place before dinner, found some fliers for a blood drive last week. Roy thought Max might've gotten jumped leaving the drive and they were planning to head over to where it was held to find out more after dinner. I wasn't thrilled, but Thea and Sin wouldn't wait," Oliver replied.

"Well, they found Max. Probably near the where the blood drive happened then; you'll have to text Roy for the particulars. Apparently Max's eyes were bleeding before he died, so the cops are calling it an OD," Tommy finished reporting dutifully. Oliver was already reaching for his phone.

"That was a symptom of the Mirakuru," Oliver said. "The initial effects led to most of Ivo's subjects dying in horrific pain, even with the sedatives keeping them docile. But what happened to those who survived... was worse."

"You think they gave Mirakuru, or a version of it, to this Max kid? Just like our mystery thief." Dig looked pensive. "Do you think they're using the blood drives to identify likely candidates and snatching them for some kind of... super soldier program?"

"Yeah. I'm going to need more info on the drives," Oliver said, still texting with Roy. "It was one of those Sebastion Blood's drives."

"Ugh, I hate that guy," Tommy grumbled.

"Laurel seems to like him," Oliver teased absently.

"And I'm pretty sure we're both proof Laurel has terrible taste in men," Tommy retorted. "I was right about Rochev, wasn't I?"

"Gonna have that PI of yours look into him?" Dig asked.

"Not yet. Dibny's caught up in something in Central City anyway. Hartley asked for his info." Tommy frowned, using his own phone to pull up the website for the monthly Sebastion Blood Drives. "If his blood drives are tied up in this super soldier program, looking into him may turn into a Team Arrow problem anyway. Better to wait and see for now."

"The truck's found its home," Felicity announced. "Except, I don't think its the actual lair. They must've been heading out to pick up the sedatives and not on the way back after stealing them because..." she showed them a picture on her screen.

"What is it?" Dig asked, leaning over her shoulder for a better look. "I don't see any signs."

"ARGUS isn't exactly one to advertise. It's a relief bunker. ARGUS has depots like this all over the world. They actually emptied this one out after the Undertaking, but it definitely would've been restocked by now. Full of non-perishable foods, blankets, temporary housing, medical supplies... including high grade sedatives."

Oliver was already reaching for his uniform. "I'm on my way."

"Oliver," Tommy cut in. "This arrow you brought back." He picked it up and twirled it like a baton. "Felicity what would cause the arrowhead to bend like this on contact with a person?"

"Their muscle density would have to be at least 120 pounds per cubic foot." Felicity doing the math in her head like that was pretty hot, actually.

Well... Tommy did always have a thing for the smart ladies.

"That's almost the same density as common concrete," she continued. "You can shoot him, Oliver, but your arrows probably won't even slow him down." 

"I've been someone like this before," Oliver insisted.

"That's what concerns me," Tommy muttered under his breath.

* * *

Dig had followed after Oliver in a car, just in case. Standard procedure if something went down over a certain distance from Verdant, ever since Tommy officially joined the team. And a good procedure too.

If Oliver needed backup then it put Dig within easy reach with his guns and a mask of his own. If Oliver needed a quick escape or evac, well... Dig was within easy reach with his guns, his mask, and a getaway vehicle that could potentially carry the unconscious body of one Oliver Queen.

Like right now.

By the time Dig got to him in the ARGUS facility, Oliver was already unconscious, some unidentified syringe full of a red liquid sticking out of his leg. Dig had removed it carefully, capped it, and then took both the syringe and Oliver back to the car. But whatever the chemical in the syringe was, some of it had clearly gotten into Oliver's blood stream... and he was not reacting well to it at all.

"His pulse is weak, but it's there," Felicity was saying while Tommy was fretting, though off to the side where he wouldn't get in the way. "The syringe is coded," she added, turning away from where Oliver was still laying in the car. "I might be able to hack in to find out what it is, but given what their system is like... by the time I find out what he's been poisoned with, he'll be dead."

"We're going to have to take him to the hospital." Dig moved to shut the car door... but Tommy stopped him. 

"No. If we do that, everyone will find out he's the vigilante. We have another option right now."

"Barry," Felicity breathed, clearly tracking Tommy's reasoning.

"He's a CSI, not a doctor," Dig objected.

"But he knows poisons and their symptoms as well as how to treat them. Better Barry than the hospital," Tommy insisted. "Get him inside," he pointed at Oliver. "I'll get Barry. Somehow."

Dig studied Tommy for a long moment and then nodded, motioning for Felicity to give him a hand while Tommy ran off to Queen Manor to fetch their visiting scientist.

Given the speed at which Tommy returns with Barry Allen, Dig's has no doubt that the speed limits were ignored on the way there and back.

Barry hesitated only few moments when he realizes that Tommy's brought him into the Arrow Cave - dammit and now Tommy's got Dig calling it that too - before hurrying over to join the others with Oliver. "What happened to him?" He glanced at Tommy, "you said someone was poisoned..."

"He was injected with this. We're not sure how much or what it is," Dig said, giving Barry the syringe. "I'm not going to be able to identify it off this alone, though based on the color there's only a handful of things it might be." He shook his head and grabbed a light, which he used to examine Oliver's pupil response. "Make that three possible diagnosis..." Then he pinched Oliver's skin. "Two," he muttered.

The equipment started to beep loud and fast as Oliver's heart struggled with the chemicals in his system.

"Start chest compressions," Barry ordered and Dig followed the directions without hesitation. "I need access to his arm," Barry added, politely shoving Felicity out of his way to get a blood sample. "Got it. He's suffering from intravenous coagulation. The syringe is full of clotting agent and now it's causing his blood to thicken. It's maple syrup," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Shit... do you guys have a rat problem?"

"What?" Tommy asked, startled out of his daze by the non sequitur.

"A number of rat poisons are also anti-coagulants. He'll need a high enough dose to thin his blood out, but low enough that it doesn't turn around and kill him instead," Barry held Tommy's gaze.

"Right, okay. Yeah, rat problem indeed." Tommy fetched the poison from where it was kept on a low shelf and brought it over. A few moments later, Barry was injecting the poison into the IV. And...

And it was working. 

Thank god, it was working...

* * *

_"Oliver, have you forgotten me?"_

Blinking his eyes open, Oliver stared up at the ceiling. Was that... was that Shado's voice?

"He's awake!" Tommy called, squeezing Oliver's hand and coming into view. "How you doing, buddy?"

"My chest hurts," he rasped out, sitting up and then... freezing. "What is he doing here?" he hissed, glaring at Tommy.

"Your blood was turning into the equivalent of maple syrup and Dig had to give you chest compressions to keep your heart going. That's why your chest hurts so fucking much," Tommy replied, the expression on his face brittle and fixed. "So your options were the hospital where everyone would learn you're the vigilante. Or inviting the nice scientist to come save your life. So before you throw a tantrum about how it wasn't our choice and so on and so forth, keep in mind that you were busy dying. So yes, it was our fucking choice. And we picked the one most likely to keep your secret, but also less likely to keep you alive. So you'd better fucking appreciate that."

Oliver wants to shout back that it's his life and his choice, but... he can't really refute the fact that Tommy's already shot down that argument. He just... he vetted Dig and Felicity before letting them on his secret. Barry was cute, but they barely knew anything about him.

"Now, put a smile on your face and thank the nice man for saving your life," Tommy said tightly, turning and walking away from where Oliver was laying.

Oh, yeah, Tommy was extremely pissed off. And, oddly, that made Oliver's own temper start to ebb. Not that he felt any less uneasy about Barry knowing his secret but, well... he wasn't about to go off the rails at people who just wanted to keep him alive either.

Grabbing his gray hoodie, Oliver gingerly pulled it on and swung his legs over the side of the table. He offered Tommy a rueful glance, but the other man was staring off in the wrong direction, hands clenched into shaking fists. He was not looking forward to the conversation they were clearly going to be having later.

"You know, I didn't really think having Tommy on the team would be a good idea at first," Dig mused. "But he's actually pretty good at making you shut up and listen. It's a miracle."

"Funny, Dig," Oliver grumbled. "Thanks for helping keep me alive," he added, giving Felicity a significant look too. She smiled back.

The only one left was Barry, who was wringing his hands nervously.

"Thank you Barry," Oliver said. 

"It was just lucky you had a source of warfarin in easy reach," Barry said, offering a hesitant smile. The box of rat poison sat rather conspicuously on the table beside him. "Not exactly medical grade, though, so you really should get checked out by a doctor... but I guess that's not really gonna happen."

Oliver shook his head. "Nope."

"Right. So... what happens next?" Barry asked.

To be perfectly honest... Oliver really had no idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucky Roy, he didn't get shot this time like he was in the show. Meaning no call from Moira summoning Ollie home immediately after waking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so much fun rewatching these episodes in order to rework the plot for this story. Barry's just so adorable and excited about everything. Barry at his most puppy-ish.
> 
> So the episode title Three Ghosts is a reference to the three hallucinations Oliver has during the episode and possibly a nerdy little reference to A Christmas Carol's three ghosts. Shado represents the past and the terrible events on the island that Oliver had hoped he'd left behind. She's also the part of him that's afraid and wants to go back to a normal life, even though he knows that's not really for him any more. Slade represents the present and Oliver's doubts about his ability to handle his responsibilities or deal with the rising threat that the Mirakuru represents. Tommy represents the future and Oliver's desire to redeem himself - to become the kind of person, the kind of hero, that Tommy would have been proud of.
> 
> Obviously Tommy's not dead here, so he doesn't work as one of the three 'ghosts', but I've got plans or that. And perhaps not all the ghosts will be hallucinations, exactly...

"So what kind of side-effects should I be concerned about from the rat poison?" Oliver finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Uh, mostly bleeding," Barry said, grimacing. "Since it's counteracting the coagulant, theoretically you should be fine, but... it is a blood thinner and that can make any bleeding or bruising - especially internal bleeding, though - a lot worse. So if you start noticing, like... stomach pain or..."

Oliver nodded quickly, "yeah, I know what the symptoms of internal bleeding are like. Anything else?"

"Less than one percent of people on warfarin experience hallucinations, though it's more prevalent in men. Also excessive sweating." Barry shrugged, adding, "and not knowing what the coagulant was means I can't even begin to guess at what the drug interactions would be."

That would explain hearing Shado's voice, Oliver supposed. 

"Do you mind if I look around?" Barry asked, glancing around with the air of barely restrained excitement.

"Look, don't touch," Oliver warned, a smile tugging at his face when Barry literally bounced over to check out Oliver's bow in the case.

Heading over to Tommy, he said dryly, "I haven't even googled him yet."

"When he was a kid, his father murdered his mother and went to jail to the Central City Iron Heights facility," Tommy responded immediately, voice low so it wouldn't carry to the CSI, who was now pestering Felicity and Dig with questions. "Eleven year old Barry insisted his father was innocent, but the evidence all pointed one way. He spent some time in foster care before going to live with the West family. His foster father, Joe West, is a detective for the CCPD and his foster sister attends CCU. I did google him. And checked out his public facebook page. He's got a blog too, trying to prove the impossible is possible. And he's a Vigilante fan. Dig checked up on him too, found all the same things I did."

"You're right. You and Dig and Felicity were in the position of calling the shots and all the choices were ones I hate. And I'm glad you went with the one you did." Not that he was exactly thrilled, but this was still better than waking up in the hospital with his wrists cuffed to the bed. "And you were right to assume I was going to blow up over this."

"Because you're a control freak."

"Yeah."

Tommy laughed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "At least you can admit it. First step to fixing a problem, right?"

"Are you okay?"

"Nope. You were dying right in front of me. I'm not okay and I'm going to have some really shitty nightmares about this until your next near death experience gives my subconscious something else to torture me with." Tommy shook his head. "Thea called right before you woke up. She's going to Laurel this afternoon to find out if there have been any other disappearances connected with the blood drives. You need to tell her you're the Hood before she gets herself into trouble. She's very much your sister in this; she won't let this go no matter how nicely we ask. But if she worked with us instead of at cross purposes, then maybe we can keep her out of the line of fire." 

This is another argument they've had a few dozen times in the last few months. But this is the first time Oliver's actually found Tommy's arguments compelling. If it were just Roy looking into things, Oliver could just shoot the guy in, like... the leg or something as a warning to back off. Wouldn't even feel guilty about it.

Well... he wouldn't feel guilty at first. Guilt would come later, seeing him hobble around... probably.

Thea, though... Oliver would sooner shoot himself with an arrow than his sister. And getting shot at would likely just make her dig her heels in more deeply, anyway. The family stubbornness at its finest. But if she found out the truth...

Oliver had been lucky not to lose Tommy. And their friendship was so much more fragile feeling now than before. Part of Oliver was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Tommy to finally realize that Oliver wasn't really a good person anymore and not worth the effort to help. He couldn't bear to find himself in the same situation with Thea. Or to lose her altogether.

It was selfishness and he knew it. But Oliver still said, "I'll think about it."

Tommy rolled his eyes in response. But he changed the subject. "Tonight is your return to society party for Moira. How's the RSVP list looking?"

"Sparse. Maybe that was a bad idea."

"No shit, Sherlock." Tommy sighed. "Give me the list of people who haven't RSVP'd yet. I'll see if I can work some magic."

"Was that a wizard joke?" Oliver asked, unable to help himself as he smirked.

"I hate you." But Tommy was smiling anyway.

* * *

"Hey, Felicity, Dig, I think I've got a print we can run of the guy who attacked Oliver," Barry said, keeping his voice down because, well... if this didn't work then no point in getting Oliver's hopes up... right? It's totally not because he wants to impress Oliver or anything like that...

"What? How?" Felicity asked, looking excited.

"Uh, while Oliver was unconscious I, um... the bruising on his neck has a distinct finger pattern to it. I applied this to absorb the residual oils from his skin," he held up a polymer gel strip from the kit he'd brought along when Tommy fetched him from the Queen residence. "It works better on dead people because... doesn't matter. It's a long shot, especially because Oliver was sweating so this could easily wind up distorted but... we might also have a viable fingerprint."

"Let's check it out." Dig showed Barry where he could scan the print into the computer while Felicity pulled up the police database to run it. 

The print runs and a name spits back out a few minutes later. Cyrus Gold.

Dig calls Oliver and Tommy over while Felicity reads out the information they've got. Gold's fairly clean - sealed juvie record for shoplifting that Felicity unseals with ease - and ties to an orphanage that was shut down in the Glades some years earlier. 

"I've got facial recognition software searching for him. If he turns up, we'll know," Felicity promised. 

"Right, well, I've got stuff to do elsewhere, but if he does anything stupid," Tommy said, pointing at Oliver and giving Felicity a significant look, "call me and I'll get back here okay. Barry? Do me a favor?"

"Y-yeah?" Barry asked.

"Stick with Oliver for me? If he starts having negative side effects, you're probably the one best suited to help him right now."

"I don't need a minder," Oliver protested.

"No, you need a babysitter," Dig said, giving Oliver a distinct 'you heard me' look when the vigilante started to respond.

"I'd, uh..." Barry stammered nervously, not wanting to offend Oliver but not wanting to irritate Tommy either. Oliver might be the infamous Hood, but Tommy was maybe just a little scary too.

"Come on, it's still early enough we can pick up donuts and let my mother think that's where we disappeared off too," Oliver offered. "And swing by to check on Thea while we're out."

"Should you be driving?" Barry asked, adding quickly when Oliver frowned, "it's just if you do start experiencing side effects..."

"Then I shouldn't be behind the wheel. Fine. Yeah." Oliver grimaced but nodded and tossed Barry his keys. "Let's go."

* * *

_He's standing in the overlook watching the submarine floating in the water below._

_"Have you forgotten me, Oliver?"_

_He turned around to face the speaker. Shado. She's as beautiful as Oliver remembers. "How could I forget? I let you down. I let you die..."_

_"You didn't do anything wrong, Oliver. Ivo had already chosen who would live and who would die. He just wanted to mess with your head first. He's still messing with your head." She walked up and cupped his face in her hands. "Have you forgotten me?" she repeated._

_"I wear your hood to honor you." Oliver's words echo in the sudden emptiness. "Shado? Shado!" He started running into the woods, seeing her hair sometimes, flicking ahead of him between the trees, but... he trips over something, falling to his knees and she just there again._

_"I wanted us all to have the chance to go home. To have our lives back. You could still have that Oliver, that life I wanted for you." She's laying on the ground as she speaks, staring up at the stars. Or is she staring at him? It's... kind of hard to tell._

_Or maybe she's lying there dead._

_"I can't go backwards, Shado. I can only move forwards." He feels like he's making excuses._

_"Then let yourself move forwards, Oliver." She's standing and it's daylight again. Hood over her head and arrow nocked in her bow. "The path you chose doesn't mean leaving the people you love behind. We're your strength. But how can we give that to you if you keep us in the dark?"_

_Only... she isn't Shado anymore, when she turns to look at him, the hood falling back to reveal her face..._

Oliver startled awake as the car jerked to a halt. 

"Asshole," Barry muttered and then blushed. "Oh, you're awake. That wasn't about you. I was definitely not calling you an asshole. There was a driver who just cut us off and then ran the red light and turned right from the wrong lane in front of us. I hate driving. Anyway, your phone says were almost there."

"I figured it was someone else from the feeling of the brakes," Oliver replied easily. "Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"It's fine. You probably need more rest anyway."

"Not if I'm going to have dreams like that," Oliver muttered. It's not the first time he's dreamed about Shado since her death. Usually nightmares. That was just... weird. And he's not really sure who took her place at the end there. But he suspects Thea. Or maybe Laurel. Probably not Sara since she was having her own trust issues and hidden secrets - like the fact that she was, in fact, alive and not a drowning victim twice over - but Shado would've pushed him to tell his sister. Tommy would've liked having an ally in her on that subject. And while Laurel wasn't the love of his life he'd pretended she was when he was on the island - a pretense he'd needed to cope with the situation he was trapped in - she was still a dear friend. If he told her the truth, she wouldn't betray him.

He missed Shado, though, and despite what she'd said in his dream... her death still felt like it was his fault. Slade had thought so too. But Ivo was the one with the gun. Ivo was the one who pulled the trigger.

It was time, perhaps, to finally let it go.

"So if you don't mind me asking," Barry said, dragging Oliver back to the present, "but what's up with the grease paint? It's really a terrible way to disguise your identity. Namely because it doesn't really disguise anything."

Oliver snorted in amusement. "I've yet to find a mask that conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't affect my ability to aim while I'm on the run."

"You should look into compressible micro-fabric," Barry replies, grinning as he follows the tinny directions from google maps to turn left and pulled into the parking lot of Roy's apartment complex. "It could be great."

"Does it come in green? I've got a color scheme going on," Oliver joked.

"So I guess I was right about the whole forest training ground. But... what you said about honoring the person who taught you..." Barry trailed off uncertainly. "I mean, obviously, you don't have to tell me."

"Her name was Shado." The words slip out too easily after his dream. But... maybe he needs to talk about her. She kept asking if Oliver had forgotten her and, for all that he did do to honor her teachings... he never talked about her. Keep her memory alive in a different way. "She taught me how to use a bow."

"She must've been a pretty interesting person," Barry said as he turned off the car. "Sounds like she didn't make it off the island, though."

"She didn't." Oliver shook his head, unable to say more. Getting out of the car, he led Barry over to Roy's apartment, knocking on the door.

A sleepy looking Thea opened the door for him. "Ollie... and Barry, hey."

"We brought donuts and coffee," Barry offered with a grin.

"You're officially one of us," Thea declared, grabbing one of the donut boxes from Barry and letting them inside.

"You have to share those," Oliver called after Thea. That was the box with the chocolate covered apple fritters, so she damn well better share...

"You're not the boss of me," Thea called back. She relented once they all settled down on the couch, however. Sin was half asleep and leaning against Roy, who had seemed comfortable with the situation right up until Oliver came into view. At which point he glanced nervously between Thea and Oliver.

Oliver, however, just raises an eyebrow at Thea as he snags a donut.

In typical Thea fashion, she raised her eyebrow back and gave Sin a cup of coffee, their fingers brushing lingeringly before Thea relinquished the drink completely.

"I heard from Tommy you guys found Max last night," Oliver said, once everyone had a donut and coffee cup in hand. 

"He didn't OD," Sin said emphatically. "Max didn't do drugs."

Oliver nodded.

"Did you take any photos?" Barry spoke up. "I probably won't be allowed near the crime scene since I don't work for the SCPD and I kind of got the impression that Detective Lance thinks I'm a nut, but maybe you got more on camera than you realized."

Roy traded a look with Thea and then nodded, handing over his phone for Barry and Oliver to check out. The first was an up close view of Max's face and the blood trailing down from his eyes. There was no doubt in Oliver's mind this was a failed Mirakuru experiment. 

"It's not hyphema, at least not a normal form of hyphema," Barry said, frowning and zooming in to better inspect the picture.

"Hyphema?" Sin echoed.

"Uh, when a person's eyes are bleeding it's called hyphema - but that's generally a form of internal bleeding within the eye itself, not external like this. While hyphema is a potential side effect of several different street drugs, this looks more like bleeding behind the eyes that used the eye socket as an escape point." Barry shook his head and moved to the next picture, which had a wider view of the darkened crime scene. "Looks like a body dump, though. The way he's laid out is wrong for an attack or collapse. Someone clearly positioned him post mortem. To hide evidence and obscure the actual crime scene, no doubt." He handed back the phone. "I'd be willing to bet the ME finds evidence of a brain hemorrhage."

"Tommy said you were going to ask Laurel about disappearances linked to the blood drives?" Oliver asked.

Thea nodded. "Maybe I should ask her about so called OD's that bleed from their eyes first too," Thea said. "Thanks for taking a look, Barry."

"I'm really sorry about your friend, Sin," Barry said quietly.

Sin just nodded and leaned back against Roy again.

They finished the rest of their sugary breakfast in silence and then Oliver and Barry moved to head out. Oliver caught Thea in a hug and then said, before he could change his mind, "there's something I need to talk to you about. Could you meet me at Verdant this afternoon when you're done with Laurel?"

"Sure. I'll give you a call when I'm on my way there," Thea promised. "Everything okay, Oliver?" she asked, giving him a worried once over. "You look about how I feel right now." 

"Just didn't sleep well last night. I... I've been kind of stressed about QC and... had some unpleasant reminders about my time on the island." Which was all true, technically.

Thea relaxed and nodded. "This afternoon, then."

Back in the parking lot, Oliver tossed Barry his keys again. Next stop, the Queen family residence.

* * *

Barry does not like driving. And that's in regular cars. Not expensive cars that probably cost more than his salary in a year.

Somehow, he manages to drive to the donut shop and to Roy's apartment and then to Queen manor all without getting into trouble. Though he's still a little freaked out over the one shitty driver who'd cut him off earlier. His anxiety is still threatening to spiral over it, though flirting with Oliver helped him calm down surprisingly enough.

(It's with good reason Barry prefers public transportation.)

They arrive back at the manor and Oliver gifts the last of the donuts to his mother. While they talk for a few minutes, Barry heads upstairs to the guest room. He texts Iris to let her know he's staying one more day, though he might take an evening train back to Central. He's not sure yet.

He gets a text back pretty quickly telling him to relax and enjoy his vacation for a change and see if he can get a picture of the Vigilante's arms. Which must be all gorgeously muscled.

She really has no idea. Though Oliver's arms? Glorious. Absolutely glorious. He really needs an excuse to touch those arms again...

There's a knock at his door, drawing Barry out of his thoughts. Mostly out of his thoughts. Oliver's leaning against the doorway and Barry's eyes are drawn to those very arms.

Absolutely glorious...

"So, planning to stick around a little while longer?" Oliver asked. "I know you have to be back in time for work on Tuesday, but I was hoping you'd stay one more night. I... I'm sort of throwing a party, for my mom tonight. Which seemed like a great idea until I realized almost no one was RSVPing. Tommy's promised to try and fix the guest list, but... I guess what I'm saying is that I don't have a date and I was kind of hoping you'd agree to be my plus one."

"Yes. I have nothing to wear, though." Barry didn't even hesitate, just blurted out the agreement. What if there was dancing? Barry had two left feet... but that was when he was leading. He was less awful when following though there was still the potential for stepping on his partner's feet. "Also I'm not a great dancer." He might as well admit it.

Oliver looked him over, blatantly. "You're what... six feet tall?"

Barry nodded, mouth dry.

"You can borrow my clothes," Oliver told him. "I'm only an inch taller. Slightly different builds, but I think my things will still look really good on you."

"Okay," Barry squeaked. And then blushed in embarrassment.

Blessedly, Oliver changed the subject. "Thanks for giving Sin your opinion on the crime scene photos Roy took. I don't know her that well, but I think it helped for her to hear that the scene was staged and the signs really don't point to an over dose as the cause of death."

"When people keep telling you that someone you care about did something wildly out of character, it definitely helps to have someone willing to validate what you know is true," Barry said, thinking about his father. Hear a lie or untruth enough times and it can start to sound like fact, distort a person's perceptions of reality. Which was why Barry kept reminding his dad that he believed in Henry Allen's innocence, no matter what everyone else kept saying. Henry needed to hear it... and Barry needed to see the relief on his dad's face. To know at least one other person remembered that night the same way Barry did.

As terrifying as it was to consider, Barry's childhood nightmares were very real.

"What made you decide to become a CSI? If you don't mind me asking," Oliver said, letting the door shut so no one would overhear. Presumably, anyway.

"You... you probably know about my parents, right?" Barry sat down on the bed as Oliver nodded affirmatively. "It was... it was the week after my eleventh birthday. I woke up to this awful noise downstairs. So I went down there and... it sounds crazy. That's what everyone tells me. That I made it up so I wouldn't have to remember what really happened or that I'm lying to protect my dad. But I didn't make it up and it's not a lie."

"What isn't?" Oliver asked, coming over to sit beside Barry. "I've seen some truly unreal things in the last several years. Not just super soldiers but... things that are truly out there. Whatever you saw that night, I believe you."

"I saw a lightning storm inside the house. Red and yellow lightning, circling my mom. Dad was trying to get to her, but he couldn't. And she couldn't get out. But when I got to the bottom of the stairs and looked into the room... something in the lightning saw me too. And... there was a man in the lightning. I remember him stopping in front of me. Staring down at me, dressed all in yellow. Red electricity in his eyes and his face just a blur... I remember yelling for me to run and then suddenly I was just... blocks away. I started running home immediately, but by the time I got there, mom was dead.

"The man in the lightning stabbed her, using one of our kitchen knives. But he was wearing gloves. No prints. My dad is a doctor. The first thing doctor's are taught to do with knife wounds is stabilize them. Don't remove the knife, but instead find a way to minimize movement to prevent worsening the wound until the patient can be brought into surgery."

"So his prints were all over the bloody knife," Oliver concluded. "Trying to save his wife's life got him thrown in prison for her murder."

"Yeah. It's... it's fine if you don't believe me..." Barry said, voice hitching because... it was ridiculous and he knew it. Wishing that there'd been someone like the Vigilante - like Oliver - around when his mother died. Someone who would have listened to Barry and found the real killer. Joe never believed Barry; how could he expect Oliver to think any differently?

"I believe you," Oliver told him firmly. 

The utter certainty on Oliver's face took Barry's breath away. "You do?"

"Yeah. I do." Oliver took one of Barry's hands in his. "I've never heard of anything like you described before. But I might know someone who does. Have you ever heard of a guy called John Constantine?"

Barry frowned and shook his head.

"He deals in... the weird and the crazy and the occult. Which probably doesn't sound promising, but he is very good at what he does. And he owes me a favor. He's not easy to get ahold of, but if you want then the next time I get in touch with him, I can send him your way."

"Yes, I... thank you, Oliver," Barry rubbed at his eyes, feeling tears on his cheeks. No one ever believed him just like that before. But here Oliver was, promising exactly that... and offering a potential lead on top of it all. Even if this Constantine guy didn't work out...

Impulsively, Barry kissed Oliver on the cheek.

Oliver actually blushed. He opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by the ringing of his phone. Glancing at the caller id, Oliver answered with, "you found something, Felicity?" After a few moments, he said, "we'll be right there."

"Cyrus Gold?" Barry asked as Oliver ended the call.

"Felicity's algorithms found him. She's calling us all back to the Foundry."

Barry squeezed Oliver's hand gently for a moment before letting go and standing up. "Am I driving again?"

"I think I'm good to drive this time."

"Oh thank god."

* * *

They get back to the Foundry at about the same time Dig does, but Tommy's running late.

"He's at the corner of Delgado and 25th right now," Felicity calls as the three of them approach her work space. "But we're just about to lose him."

"What else is at that intersection?" Oliver asked.

"Parking lot, market, motel..." Felicity rattled off. "He's headed in the direction of the motel."

"Could be where he's holed up," Dig muses. 

Oliver wants to say that he's got this. That he's fine. Despite hearing Shado's voice on waking - the first time he woke up today, anyway - he's been fine. No signs of negative side effects to the rat poison.

(He's not quite sure he's ready to let that go. Rat poison saved his life. Sometimes even Oliver marvels over the absurdity his life has become.)

But Tommy would be pissed to find out Oliver's taken point on even something as minor as a quick recon, when it hasn't even been twenty-four hours since his latest near death experience. And he'd be right to be pissed off too. 

It was probably annoying for Dig and Felicity that things they'd been trying to tell him for months, Tommy managed to make him listen to within weeks of joining the team. But Tommy had been managing Oliver's bad impulses since they were kids and it was just... an easy pattern to let himself fall back into. Because if something was important enough for Tommy to call Oliver out on screwing up, then it had to be important enough for Oliver to be willing to fix it.

"Dig, you should handle this one." It's outside the safe 'radius' around Verdant, however. "I'll be your back-up. Just in case."

A pleased smile appeared on Dig's face. "I keep a book of crossword puzzles in the glove box if you get bored," Dig teased.

"Funny," Oliver grumbled. "You okay to stay here?" he asked Barry.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I'll probably annoy Felicity by rambling about how cool everything here is." The scientist did have a bit of a kid in a candy store look to his eyes...

This was definitely not innocent flirting between them anymore. But... Oliver was finding he much preferred it this way.

Oliver waits until he's in the car with Dig to ask, "do you think I should tell Thea I'm the Hood?"

Dig's eyebrows went up. "Finally caving to Tommy's arguments on that?"

"Maybe?" Oliver shrugged uncomfortably. "I know what Tommy thinks and Felicity's made it pretty clear she agrees, but you've been kind of quiet about it."

"She is your sister. And Tommy's sister. So it's not really..." Dig trailed off when Oliver turned to look at him. "I think it'd be good for you to have less to hide from her. It'd be healthier for both of you. But telling her means you'll have to tell Roy too, because god knows she isn't going to hide anything from him and he's a hairsbreadth from figuring it out himself anyway."

Dig put the car in gear and started them towards their destination. "I wasn't sure having Tommy on the team was going to be a good idea. He was intensely uncomfortable and angry after he found out you were the Vigilante and that was even after you saved his father's life. And he did have every right to feel that way, but I was concerned that... he'd wind up becoming a distraction. Instead, he's helped us become a more cohesive team and I finally have someone around who isn't so distracted by your chiseled good looks when you're doing the salmon ladder that I wind up losing my conversation partner every time you so much as side-eye that thing."

"I think it's more about the salmon ladder than my 'chiseled good looks'," Oliver objected, half teasing. "Felicity got just as distracted by Sara when she was in the Foundry a few weeks ago."

"That's fair. Sara is much prettier than you are," Dig retorted.

"So you think I should tell Thea," Oliver said, switching back to the topic at hand.

"I do. And you should make telling Roy her choice, because you'll be showing her you trust her decisions." Dig hesitated for a moment, "and if she wants to be part of the team, then I think that'd be a good thing too. We all bring something important to the table, even our temporary fifth ranger Barry Allen."

"With him in Central City, it's too much to ask for him to run forensics for us... but I was thinking he'd still make a good contact for crime scene analysis. He was able to tell just from pictures of Sin's friend Max that it was body dump."

"You just want an excuse to stay in touch with him," Dig teased. Then, more seriously, "he's better for you than Helena was."

"With Helena I was so fixated on our similarities, that I ignored our differences and your good advice," Oliver said quietly. "I'm sorry about that, Dig. I should have listened more. I wanted to change, I just needed help to do it. I wanted things to be the same way with her, but Helena was more interested in punishing the people she saw as responsible for her fiance's death... especially herself." He tapped his fingers along the arm rest in the passenger side door. Helena had been a mistake made out of loneliness. But Oliver wasn't lonely anymore. Not in the way he'd been last year.

"Not the sort of problem you'd have to worry about with Barry," Dig agreed. "And, honestly, having reasons to get out of Starling from time to time would be good for you."

"I asked him to go to tonight's party with me."

"And he agreed," Dig guessed, grinning. "Good."

* * *

Dig leaves Oliver in the driver's seat of his car and heads to the motel's side entrance. "F-Overwatch," Dig nearly cursed himself for the slip. Tommy really did have a point about them needing code names. "Which room am I looking for?"

"Room 34 is rented out to a Solomon Grundy," Felicity said over the comms.

Then came Barry's voice, "it's from the poem by the same name. The poem's about a man who goes by the name Solomon Grundy, but whose real name is revealed to be Cyrus Gold when he died."

"That's a little on the nose, but the obscurity makes it a decent alias," Tommy added.

"Not that obscure," Oliver muttered.

"Alright, pipe down," Dig said, heading for room 34. The downside to having a growing team was more voices on the comms, increasing it's potential to be a source of distraction.

One picked lock later and Dig was into the apartment. "I'm in," he said as the door swung open with an unfortunate squeak. "Place looks clean." Too clean. Was this really the right room? It didn't look like anyone was actually... "There's a book, open to that poem you mentioned." Dig's eyes scanned the first line of the poem before darting off to check for where the next room was. He still hadn't cleared the place and he couldn't afford to start hunting for clues in here if there was a hostile in the bedroom or bathroom.

"The poem is supposed to symbolize the seven stages of life," Oliver mused absently. "From birth to death."

Dig doesn't have time for a pithy response to that, however, because here comes their very own Cyrus Gold running at Dig to twist his arm around. At least, Dig assumes it's Cyrus Gold; with the black mask obscuring his face, it could easily be someone else. Dig's gun goes off behind his back - thankfully not shooting himself in the process - and it's a struggle to get out of the man's grip. 

"Heading for the fire escape," Oliver's voice came over the comms, and the knowledge that he's got a quick escape headed his way give's Dig the second wind he needs to kick his assailant off of him. Then it's a bee line for the window, which Dig breaks shoulder first before reaching out to break his fall on the metal bars of the fire escape.

It's two short drops and then a run down the ramp that extends downwards under his weight... and then he's in the alley, diving into the passenger side of his car.

"He picked me up like I was nothing," Dig breathed out as the car took off with a squeal.

"Overwatch, call for back up."

* * *

"Is this about Sara?" Detective Lance asks, so hopeful. "You heard from her?"

"No. I'm sorry," Oliver apologized, and meaning it. "This is about something else." Oliver handed Lance the file in his hands and then explained about Cyrus Gold's connection to the break in at QC.

"So that CSI from Central City was right," Lance said, flicking through the file. "Kid made it sound like the guy was some kind of monster. What is it, steroid's or something?"

"Or something," Oliver replied. "It increases a person's strength and reflexes, but induces heightened aggression, paranoia, and hallucinations as well. He's extremely dangerous, Detective."

"Why come to me?" Lance asked, though Oliver could tell the detective was already mentally pulling together a team for this.

"Yes, why go to him? Another person for you to get killed in this crusade of yours, Oliver."

Oliver froze. He didn't dare glance around. He knew that voice and he knew it wasn't real. They weren't on the comms and they weren't here.

They were dead. He was dead, just like Shado.

"I was poisoned last night. The antidote has... side effects. I'm compromised." It hurts to admit, but he doesn't exactly have a choice. That was Slade's voice in Oliver's head.

It's almost funny that they're fighting against a super soldier who is likely having violent hallucinations... and here's Oliver having a little auditory hallucination of his own. Except really it's more frightening than funny.

"I'm a liability right now," Oliver insists when it looks like the detective might argue the point. "Take as many men as you can and do not hesitate to kill Cyrus Gold. He won't hesitate to kill any of you." He doesn't wait for a response, but instead uses a grappling arrow to get off the top of the building in a hurry. Talking to Lance during the day is already chancy enough; doing so when he's having auditory hallucinations is an absolutely awful idea.

Either Lance will follow Oliver's advice or not. It's out of his hands now.

"What's the matter, Oliver?" Slade asks, voice a gruff a rasp that featured in Oliver's nightmares as often as Shado's murder. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"So," Oliver said casually into his comms as he headed for the rendezvous point for Dig to retrieve him, "I'm having auditory hallucinations now."

"I'll need a blood sample when you get back to the Foundry," Barry said immediately. "The hallucinations should stop when the warfarin leaves your system, but I don't know how long that'll take without checking your blood levels first."

"He thinks the world of you, you know," Slade mocked. "A fan of the hero vigilante of Starling City. And it's a lie. You're not a hero. You're a murderer. And the blood on your hands... that never washes clean. What would he think if he knew the truth? What about any of them?

"What would Tommy think, if he knew about Hong Kong? His face in your crosshairs?"

Oliver swallowed hard, feeling sick at the memory Slade's voice conjured up. And of course that was when Tommy spoke up.

"Do we need to change the rendezvous point? Spartan can come to you."

"No, it's fine. I'm almost there anyway." Oliver's hands were shaking, though. 

"You're putting these people in harm's way when you're still perfectly capable of fighting. But then," Slade taunted, "you always were a selfish bastard. You can look for atonement all you want, Oliver. You're never going to find it. The island didn't make you strong. It just laid all your weaknesses bare."

It's so tempting to argue back, but what could Oliver even say when part of him believed Slade's words?

* * *

Tommy's relieved when Oliver gets back to the Foundry and let's Barry take some blood for analysis without complaint.

"Who were you hearing?" Tommy asked quietly.

"Slade," Oliver responded. "It's... he stopped... I stopped hearing him before I reached Dig, but... the things he said..." Ollie stopped to gather his thoughts. "He was my friend, before the mirakuru turned him into... into a monster."

"I'm gonna hug you again," Tommy warned before doing exactly that.

"Tommy!" Oliver grumbled, submitting to the hug gracelessly.

"Whatever he said, those were your fears and self doubts, Oliver," Tommy said, letting him go reluctantly. "We're all our own worst critics."

"He mentioned..." Oliver trailed off and shook his head. "He mentioned something that took place after he died. Something he never could have known about."

Something that, presumably, was still gnawing at Oliver. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. If I told you... you'd hate me. And you'd be right to."

"This self-flagellation fetish of yours really needs to stop," Tommy muttered, rolling his eyes as Oliver choked. "Look, is whatever you're talking about relevant to this whole mirakuru shit storm?"

"No?"

"Then we'll worry about it later. But if this last year has taught me anything? It's that I'm literally not capable of cutting you out of my life. You are more my family than my father ever was and I'm not going to ditch you no matter what stupid shit you've pulled in the past. I have no doubt that I'll get pissed off, though whether I get pissed off at you for what you've done or the circumstances that forced you into it or both our dad's for tipping of the dominos that led you there or god in general or back to you for thinking I'd hate you for it in the first place..." Tommy shrugged. "I'll find something to be pissed of at, regardless. That won't change the fact that Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen will always be best friends."

"Thanks, Tommy," Oliver muttered roughly. "Do you think..." he shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Oh, no. You don't get to tweak my curiosity like that. What were you gonna ask?"

"Do you think I'm capable of being a hero some day?"

Tommy could feel his heart break, just a little. "Ollie." He put a hand on Oliver's shoulder and squeezed. "You already are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, part of Three Ghosts' plot is Roy getting injected with Mirakuru. And while I'm not ruling that out as a future plot point, it's not gonna happen in this story. This is a cute story about Oliver and Barry accidentally falling into a long distance relationship and Roy getting super-soldiered doesn't fit into that.
> 
> Anyway, this is looking more and more like it's gonna stretch out to a fifth chapter, but I'll know for sure once I start working on the next chapter. Thea wasn't supposed to find out about Ollie being the Arrow yet, but Thea takes after Tommy and demanded she know so... *shrugs* characters are like this sometimes. At least Laurel is being patient about getting her own story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if I'm remembering correctly, Oliver showed his mother Robert's version of the list and she destroyed it, meaning that the version Oliver has now was his mother's copy. I could be getting that wrong... but that's the version we're going with here regardless. *hand waves* It's an AU anyway.
> 
> I also can't remember if Detective Lance knows that Oliver knows that Sara is alive. He knows the Hood knows, but does he know Oliver knows? I'm gonna go with yes on that too.

Part of Oliver is absolutely terrified to do this. But he already told Tommy and been promptly informed 'no take backs allowed' which means Oliver is now stuck.

Time to come clean.

"Hey Ollie," Thea said, walking into the empty club and pulling up a chair to sit with him at the bar. "So what's this important thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"It's... this... this really not easy for me to talk about," Oliver said quietly. He passed Thea one of the sodas he'd grabbed from behind the bar earlier. The club's staff weren't due in for a while yet, so he had time to sort through this and try to explain it all coherently. "I'm going to tell you some stuff that I really don't want mom to know, okay?"

She nodded, growing a little more somber. "Yeah, okay. Is something wrong, Oliver?"

"It's just... some of this is about dad and the wreck and..." Oliver sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to make a mess of this, I can tell."

"You always do. Just... talk to me anyway." Thea popped open the can, but then passed the drink from hand to hand, more to get the noise out of the way than anything.

Oliver followed suit, popping the top of his Sprite. "I lied. To you and to mom. About how... about how dad died." Thea stayed quiet, just... listening. And Oliver couldn't bear to look at her face now that he'd gotten started. "When the yacht capsized, I was dragged out into the water and I almost drowned. Dad and... and Mr. Hackett pulled me out of the water and onto a lifeboat."

He had to stop a moment and used taking a drink as an excuse for the quiet. He could still remember screaming Sara's name, hoping to find her in the wreckage...

"I remember Mr. Hackett. He never much liked us," Thea muttered quietly.

"No. He didn't," Oliver agreed. "We had limited supplies and we drifted for days. And I developed a fever, which meant I was using up what was left of our water supply faster because dad wanted to keep me hydrated. Dave started carrying his knife again and... he and dad got into an argument about me being a waste of supplies. I don't even remember what they said." The soda can cracked as Oliver held it too tightly and then popped, loudly, a few seconds after he let it go. "Dad had a gun. And he shot Dave. He started rambling about having failed us and the city and gave me this," he handed over the book with the list in it. "Well, not this exact one. I got this one from Felicity, who got it from Walter, who took it from mom. But dad had one just like it."

Much like what Oliver had done with his father's book, he'd carefully written over the names in regular ink.

"Oliver, what is this?" Thea started paging through it. "All these names..."

"They were all involved in the Undertaking, one way or another. They may not have been aware of what Malcolm was planning but... they benefited from his bribery and corruption."

"Dad gave this to you and then... he explained it? Why did he kill Dave?" Thea put the book down, wiping at her eyes. "What are you telling me, Ollie?"

"He didn't explain anything. He was still too ashamed. He wanted me to have all the supplies. So after he gave me the book, he... he shot himself."

Thea made a distressed noise, latching onto Oliver's hand. Taking a shaky breath, Oliver brought his other hand over to cradle hers, pressing his forehead down against where their fingers tangled together.

"I'm sorry, I know this is... it's a lot..."

"It is a lot. And you've been carrying this around for too long. Have you told anyone else about this?" She sniffled and stood, wrapping her free arm around Oliver in a hug when he shook his head.

Oh he'd given vague statements about how before his father died he gave Oliver the list, but... he hadn't even told Tommy about Robert Queen's last moments. It hurt too much. How could it still hurt so much after all these years...

"Ollie," Thea murmured softly. "It's okay. I've got you." That was when he realized he was crying too.

They stayed like that for a long while, until Oliver felt capable of pulling away and continuing. "It was blank. The book was blank, when I looked at it. Or at least, it looked blank," he said, rubbing at his face and retreating around the bar to find a lighter. "Use this under one of the pages - carefully so we don't accidentally burn this one."

"Uh, okay." Thea snuffled and set the lighter aside first, pulling a kleenex packet out of her purse. She took a tissue and offered the pack to Oliver who, a touch ruefully, accepted one too. After a little more snuffling - this time into her tissue - Thea picked up the lighter again and carefully held the flame below a page from the book. The original writing curled into view behind Oliver's handwriting, revealing their mother's cramped script.

"How'd you figure it out?" she breathed, flicking out the lighter and watching the ink finish darkening.

"I might've burned a few pages first," Oliver admitted. "It was blank and I was alone and so frustrated and angry and... and when I saw the pages in the fire, I started to realize what I really had. That was when it really clicked that dad hadn't just... gone crazy at the end. There was a conspiracy and the ship's destruction wasn't an accident and dad had been in serious trouble. So I lit up the remaining pages with enough heat that I could trace over the ghost ink with something a little more legible."

"When the Hood saved you and Tommy... was that... were you working him last year?" Thea asked in wonder.

"Not exactly working with..." Oliver hedged. Deep breath. Here it goes. "I am the Hood."

"No," she gasped, eyes wide. "You... no way."

Solemnly, Oliver just nodded.

"Oh my god..." She put the book down and went around to the far side of the bar, flinging her arms around him in another hug. "You're teaching me to shoot a bow."

"I... what?"

* * *

Barry grinned as the mixture in the beaker successfully turned a deep forest green. There were a number of different types of compressible micro fabrics out there, but the easiest to manufacture with the Foundry's chemistry set would end up taking up the texture of a sort of plastic-based pleather. Which was theoretically comfortable to wear. Barry'd never actually tried it out himself. In fact, he'd never actually attempted to make anything like this before.

Which was why Felicity was now his partner in crime. Because helping a vigilante better conceal their identity was very much a form of aiding and abetting.

(It was definitely the sort of crime Barry could live with, however. The grease paint was just... not good.)

"Okay, so next step is that it needs to simmer for the next hour before being poured into the fabric mold. It should then produce a semi-stiff plastic fabric that holds its shape and is suitably thin enough to work as a mask." Barry turned to Felicity who held up the mold with a grin. "There should be enough give in it that it can conform to multiple people, so if someone needs to fill in for Oliver then the mask will work for them too. And the mold doesn't have to be a perfect match for his face."

"Which would ruin your surprise anyway," Felicity filled in, looking excited. "So I take it your more of a chemistry background than a physics background? I may have been looking into what goes into a forensics degree."

Barry nodded and grinned. "If I hadn't been totally focused on becoming a CSI, I'd have probably gone into bio-chem," he admitted. "And I may have been the mad scientist to Iris' Wonder Woman when we were kids more than a few times."

"Iris?" Felicity asked, curiously. "Who's she?"

"My best friend since kindergarten. She and I are kind of like... Tommy and Oliver, I guess. Always been friends; always will be friends." That was the vibe Barry got from the two of them, anyway.

"And causing trouble together all the time?" Felicity teased.

"Pretty much," Barry agreed with a laugh.

The door to the Foundry opened, letting Oliver in... and Thea too. 

"I'm not agreeing to that," Oliver was telling her.

"Too late," Thea replied flippantly. "Holy shit. How did I miss all of this in my own club?"

"Oliver is really good at hiding shit. Always the best at hide and go seek when we were kids, remember?" Tommy spoke up.

Thea hugged him tightly and some quiet words were exchanged. Then, pulling away, she said, "hi Felicity and... Barry?" She turned to Oliver. "Look, I know you think he's hot, but why did the out of town CSI get to learn this before I did?"

"Actually that was my call. And as the token straight sibling, you can be assured I didn't tell Barry about the Arrow Cave because he's got a nice butt or whatever," Tommy told her.

Barry could feel his face go bright red and he ducked his head while Felicity and Dig snickered at him.

"Hi Dig," Thea added. "Okay, so I get why Felicity, since she's a tech goddess, and why Dig, since there had to be a reason why you became friends with Oliver after his absolutely shitty behavior towards you when you were his bodyguard. And I get why you already know, Tommy, since you two are at your best when you're living in each others pockets. But... no offense, Barry, but..."

"None taken. It was... sort of an emergency?" He offered hesitantly.

"You see," Tommy cut in, viciously ignoring Oliver's clear signals to cease and desist, "Oliver was a little busy having a near death experience last night and I made the call to bring in Barry whose expertise saved Ollie's life."

"You nearly died last night!" Thea turned to scowl at her brother, which was when Felicity slung an arm around Barry's shoulder.

"Let's give those three some privacy, shall we?" Felicity asked Dig.

"We should be anywhere but here," Dig agreed, leading the way out.

Barry just let Felicity guide him along. Behind them he could hear Thea, Tommy, and Oliver continue to talk.

"Oh you're definitely teaching me how to shoot a bow now, Ollie."

"You're going to teach her to shoot?" Tommy's voice did not sound happy.

"I didn't agree to that," Oliver insisted, sounding a touch panicked. "I most definitely did not agree to that."

Despite himself, Barry found himself snickering as he walked out into the parking lot exit with Dig and Felicity. As the door shut behind them, Felicity and Dig exchanged looks and then dissolved into laughter too.

* * *

Oliver's blood results come back with only trace amounts of both warfarin and what Barry refers to as a clotting factor concentrates, which is a relief to all of them.

"So now that I can actually see the chemical makeup of it," Barry was saying, "I actually recognize what this is. In small doses it's a treatment used in patients with hemophilia or given to people about to undergo certain kinds of major surgery to help prevent blood loss. If you'd gotten a normal dosage of it, you wouldn't have even noticed any effects."

"Thank you, Barry," Thea said, wrapping the scientist in a hug, "for saving my idiot brother's life."

Barry patted her back awkwardly. "You're welcome."

Some of Tommy's utter terror from the night before felt like it was creeping up on him, sending chills up the back of his neck. But it's a relief to know Oliver is mostly okay. "How long until he's clear of the drugs?" he asked.

"Ah... six hours? Maybe a little less than that." Barry shrugged. To Oliver he added, "I'm not sure these levels of warfarin account for the auditory hallucination you had, but it might just mean you're particularly sensitive to that drug."

Less comforting, but Tommy'll take it. "So who's ready for tonight's party?" Tommy grinned, changing the subject. 

"Right, the party..." Thea sighed, probably have forgotten with everything else going on that weekend. "I should remind Roy he's my date tonight. Excuse me..."

While Thea went to retrieve her phone from the club upstairs, Tommy glanced at Dig, who shrugged. "I'll be there, but I never did get around to finding a date for it."

"Me either," Felicity sighed. "I'm not really sure I should be going, I mean... Moira really doesn't like me. I think she knows I'm the tech Walter used to spy on her."

"Moira will get over it," Tommy told her firmly. He wanted to ask Felicity to be his date. He even opened his mouth to ask exactly that. But then Tommy's anxiety twirled itself into a little knot in his chest and he said instead, "while I'm also sad and dateless, Oliver's got a dance partner for tonight... right Barry?"

Barry blushed right on cue. Surprisingly, so did Oliver. Tommy didn't think Oliver knew how to blush over a date. Maybe this was serious after all.

"Oooh," Felicity teased. "Though I can't imagine you brought a suit with you from Central City..."

"I'm lending him one of mine," Oliver said. "He's too tall for Tommy's."

"Hey! I'm not short." Just because he was a couple of inches shorter than Oliver...

"No, just... shorter," Oliver smirked, deliberately emphasizing the word 'shorter'.

Tommy was well aware he was hissing like an angry tea kettle. He did not care.

Deciding to be the bigger person, Tommy let the subject drop. Though he was definitely teasing Oliver about Barry getting into his pants later. These sorts of visual puns should never be allowed to pass, after all.

"How's she really taking things?" Dig asked Tommy quietly, drawing him aside while Felicity made excuses to leave so she could get ready for the evening's festivities and Oliver took Barry aside to flirt... and possibly try and find out what was happening with the chemistry set.

"Thea?" Tommy glanced over his shoulder at her where she was chatting cheerfully enough on the phone with Roy. "I think she really is going to be okay. If she'd found out some other way, it would've been bad. But this way she knows it was Oliver's choice to tell her." Oliver never chose to let Tommy know. And while he understands why that was, just like he knows Oliver is genuinely glad to have Tommy's help and support now, it still stings. It had felt like a betrayal of their friendship. Like he was looking at his best friend and seeing a stranger in his place.

He'd thought nothing could be worse than that. Tommy had been wrong, though. So very, very wrong. There were far worse things than finding out his best friend was vigilante capable of murder.

But though he didn't know even the half of whatever it was Oliver felt he needed to atone for, Tommy meant what he'd said earlier that day. Oliver was a hero. And Tommy would protect him in every way he knew how.

Today, that meant making sure the party wasn't a total bust. He'd reached out to a number of people on the guest list, securing several more RSVPs. But there was one more he needed to do. Preferably in person.

"I've got an errand to run. See you guys at the party," he said, heading for the parking lot exit.

* * *

Barry looks good in Oliver's clothes.

It's not a perfect fit, but its close and want pools in Oliver's stomach. And while Oliver knew he liked it when the person he was sleeping with wore his clothes - not that he was sleeping with Barry... yet - this was different. Before it had been his shirts being worn after sex, during breakfast the morning after. This was... this was Barry looking damn good in a suit, in clothes that were almost all Oliver's... he couldn't even articulate the utter possessiveness that thrummed through him at the sight.

Tommy was going to give Oliver hell for this at some point. Oliver could just feel it. As it was...

"He certainly cleans up nicely," Moira observed, smirking at Oliver. 

"That he does," Oliver agreed, a touch warily. "You don't mind that I told him he could stay another night, do you?"

"No, of course not. I mean, I am wondering which room he'll be sleeping in - yours or the guest room - but either way is fine with me," Moira teased.

Oliver feels his face heat up. "That's... mother," he hissed, desperately and unable to form a coherent sentence.

"I like him. He's not... he's not exactly the type you'd have gone for before. But he's sweet and smart. Very easy to like. Admittedly, long distance isn't easy, but... that might actually be good for you," Moira continued. "Oh, stop fretting, it's not like he can hear us from over there."

Felicity had arrived early to discuss the outcome of their little science experiment - which Dig had eventually backed up Barry in hiding whatever it was from Oliver - as she'd apparently dropped by the Foundry to check on it. They've already had a few arrivals aside from her, not counting the catering and string trio playing for them. Oliver's still nervous about the turnout, even with Tommy's help. He doesn't expect a miracle, but Oliver wants so badly for this to go well... even if his mother does seem totally devoted to embarrassing him right now.

"He is sweet," Oliver agreed with a sigh. "I really like him."

"I can tell," Moira teased.

"I mean... I've only known him for twenty-four hours and I..." he swallowed hard. Oh, he'd fallen in lust easily enough, before the island. But there was a decidedly romantic bent to his feelings too. He hadn't felt this way since... since Laurel. "I'm already looking for excuses to get to see him again. To keep him here just that little bit longer."

"Then don't let me keep you from him any longer," Moira said with a laugh. "Though I do have one more question for you."

"Oh?"

"Which one is Thea bringing as her date tonight? Roy or Sin?"

Oliver didn't choke, but it was a near thing. "Roy. They're not officially dating Sin yet."

"Well, I look forward to seeing how long it takes before Thea finally tells me she's part of a... thruple? Is that the term?" Moira smirked as Oliver really did choke.

"I hope not, that sounds awful," Oliver groaned. And then he escaped before she could say anything else.

Sliding up beside Barry, Oliver took advantage of having invited the other man as his date and lets his hand slide along his shoulders until he's got his arm around the other man. Barry leans into the touch, clearly indicating just how welcome Oliver's actions are. And then Barry's hand sneaks around Oliver's waist.

"Well, you two are clearly about to devour each other, so I'm going to grab some nibbles," Felicity said, hurrying off with a smirk.

Barry flushes bright red, running across his cheeks and down his neck and disappearing beneath Oliver's suit that he's wearing. Relaxing his grip on Barry's shoulder and sliding his hand to between the other man's shoulder blades, Oliver turned so they could face each other, still very close and intimate.

"So, if I were to, say, maneuver us over to that mistletoe over there, how likely would I be to get a kiss?"

Chuckling softly, Barry took a step closer. "Honestly? You don't even really need the mistletoe."

Oliver couldn't help himself. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Barry's in a chaste kiss. "Good to know," he murmured before pulling back. More guests were arriving - including Roy - and he had a host's duty to perform tonight. "Be right back," he promised.

"Looking forward to it," Barry teased, tongue flicking out to wet his lips in a motion Oliver could not drag his eyes away from. 

Somehow he wound up at the door, ushering people inside and directing them to where they could leave their coats before joining the party. Tommy eventually arrives and immediately starts pitching in with the host duties, shooing Thea off to go dance with Roy. Oliver somehow missed Dig's arrival, but he's with Felicity and Barry the next time Oliver glances over. Laurel shows up, which isn't a surprise. Her plus one is her father, which is.

Part of Oliver is relieved that the detective won't be going after Cyrus Gold tonight. And part of him is very worried that every minute Gold is out there, he's causing more trouble. They still have no idea who is behind this new source of Mirakuru or why they picked Starling City as their target. It's probably arrogant of Oliver to assume it's because of him, but he just can't shake the feeling that it's too big of a coincidence not to be about him.

But Ivo is dead. And as far as Oliver knows, no one believed in his theories or in him enough to want to avenge his death. Even if there were, who would tie Ivo's death to Oliver?

Slade would want Oliver dead. But Slade is dead too.

Which leaves Sara. If it's not about Oliver, then it's about Sara and the assassin's guild she's running from. Only that doesn't really compute either...

"Oliver..."

Startled, Oliver looked over to see Detective Lance coming back over to him after having left Laurel in company with Barry and the others. "Detective Lance. Something I can help you with?"

"I was just... wondering if you'd heard from Sara again?" he asked quietly.

Oliver shook his head. "I tried to talk to her about Laurel and she got pissed off at me."

"I'm in the same boat." Lance grimaced as he realized what he'd just said. "I just... want to know she's okay. And I don't know how to tell Laurel if Sara isn't right there as proof."

"I do know she's friends with a girl about Thea's age. Goes by the name of Sin. Short for Cindy but I still haven't gotten a last name out of her. But Sin has gotten pretty close to Thea and Roy lately. If you ask Thea to introduce you to her, then you might have a chance to ask Sin about Sara. You may want to bring a peace offering, though. Sin's friend Max was murdered, but it's been ruled an OD last I heard. Barry took a look at the pictures Roy got of the crime scene and he's convinced it's a body dump."

Lance nodded. "If I can find out more about what really happened to this Max kid, then Sin might be more open to pointing me at where Sara has been staying," he summed up. "Max got a last name?"

Oliver gave Lance the rest of what he knew. Max's full name, that was an artist, kept clean of drugs so he could make money at blood drives, and that the last place he was seen alive, as far as anyone was aware, was one of the Sebastian Blood drives. "I think Thea already asked Laurel to look into it too," he added.

"You don't think Blood is involved in this?" Lance asked, sounding skeptical.

"I doubt it. Doesn't mean there isn't someone using his blood drives for something else on the side," Oliver pointed out.

"Fair enough. I'll check for any similar cases that've popped up lately too." He glanced over towards Laurel and the others as Tommy joined their group. "I'm surprised to see that CSI here."

"His hotel lost his reservation and, well... I didn't want his vacation to be ruined. I mean, he did identify we only had one thief at QC and found that sugar in the dirt of the thief's footprints that we forwarded to you," Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, he did good. It links the break in at QC to another ongoing case, actually. Just got some information from a CI of mine that makes the same connections." The CI being the Hood, of course. Which Lance didn't know Oliver knew. "We should have your thief in custody by this time tomorrow."

"That's good to hear." Oliver was about ready to dismiss himself to join the others when it seemed one last guest finally arrived. "Excuse me detective," Oliver said, heading for the front door. It swung open to reveal... Walter.

He honestly hadn't thought Walter would come. A startled, but very pleased, smile worked its way onto Oliver's smile as he greeted the other man. And then hugged him because no matter how things ended up between him and Moira, he was family.

Thea clearly felt the same way as she practically materialized next to them to give Walter a hug of her own. 

* * *

Tommy is, perhaps, a touch smug. There is a small, but decent, turn out to the party. Walter actually showed up, which meant going to talk to him in person was totally the right call. As was telling Walter that this was more for Oliver and Thea's peace of mind than Moira's. (There's definitely still something there between them, but only time would tell if they'd manage to salvage anything out of Moira's lies.)

Additionally, this is probably the least awkward things have been between himself and Laurel since they mutually decided not to restart their relationship after the Undertaking. 

"So the cute CSI is Ollie's new boytoy?" Laurel asked teasingly, pulling Tommy aside.

"It does seem to be looking that way. I expect to hear that Oliver's got a new found interest in that accelerator STAR Labs is building and just has to visit Central City first week of the new year," Tommy quipped.

"The accelerator. Right." Laurel snickered, knowing full well what Tommy really meant. "Though I suppose if Barry wants to see it turn on, then there'll be at least some truth in there." She paused, tilting her head to the side as she watched the two of them together. "Twenty bucks says he's visiting Central within the next week."

"Two weeks," Tommy countered, accepting the bet. "Though if he ditches the shareholder's meeting next week to hook up with his boyfriend, he won't have to worry about external threat's 'cause I'll murder him myself."

Laurel chuckled and it made Tommy nostalgic. They'd been good together. But he'd never been entirely sure where he stood with her. And while he'd majorly overreacted to realizing the vigilante Laurel had a... mostly innocent crush on was actually Oliver, he rather suspects they weren't meant to last anyway. 

"So are you planning to be in Central for the accelerator?" Tommy asked. "I remember you saying something about flying out to visit your mom for New Years and its, what... two days later?"

"Actually, yes. I am," Laurel replied. "It'll be nice to get out of the city for a while. I... I could have sworn I saw Sara last week. I think I need a break."

"And how are things going with your favorite vampire?"

"You really don't like Sebastian, do you?" Laurel, at least, sounded more amused than annoyed.

"He creeps me out. And I'm relatively certain it's not because he's been flirting with you either." Tommy shrugged. "Guy just rubs me the wrong way. Especially because of how strongly he went after Ollie and me earlier this year. Oliver's not holding a grudge and maybe I should just let it go, but..."

"He sent me flowers today." Laurel shifted and then added, "I'm not really sure how comfortable I am with that. He's seems really charming most of the time, but there's something... I don't know. Dad thinks I'm making something out of nothing."

"Hey, if you aren't comfortable, then you aren't comfortable. You deserve someone you find charming all of the time." He bumped shoulders with her and grinned when she bumped him back.

"That's a tall order." She looked a little wistful. "Being an adult looked so much easier when we were teenagers."

"Welcome to adulthood, nobody's got it figured out. But hey, at least there's beer." Tommy grinned and offered her his arm. "May I have this dance?"

"You may."

* * *

Barry's lips feel swollen and surely anyone who looks at him when he and Oliver slip back into the party were surely aware that they'd been kissing in the other room. He regrets nothing, though. Even if this thing with Oliver doesn't go anywhere after he leaves tomorrow... he can't regret taking the chance.

Not when Oliver kisses like that.

"Dance with me?" Oliver asked in Barry's ear and he shivered at the way Oliver's breath teased his skin.

"Yes." Barry's eyes fluttered closed for just a moment at the feeling of Oliver's hands at his waist. Then Oliver was leading Barry onto the dance floor and Barry might've lost track of time, just... enjoying himself.

Eventually he had to let go so that Oliver could be the host again as the guests trailed out. Walter Steele doesn't leave with the rest of the guests, instead sticking around even after the last stragglers - such as Dig and Felicity and even Thea's boyfriend Roy - leave.

Barry's suddenly acutely aware he's the only person who isn't part of the Queen family in some way left as Tommy announces he's going to crash in his room for the night and he hugs Moira and Thea before heading upstairs.

Oliver gestured to Thea. "Come on, Speedy, let's get this cleaned up while Mom and Walter have some time to talk to themselves."

"I can, uh, help too?" Barry offered.

"You're our guest," Thea told him. "Go change and then Tommy's door is the one across the hall from the guest room mom put you in. Tell him I want to watch the _Polar Express_ and there's a mug of hot cocoa in it for both of you if the movie room is ready by the time I'm in pajamas."

"Sounds good. What about you, Oliver?" Barry asked, wondering if he'd get to spend the entire movie curled up against the other man, totally distracted from the screen by Oliver's very talented hands...

"I'm in," Oliver agreed.

Everything decided, Barry politely offered Moira and Walter a 'good night' and headed upstairs. He was a little reluctant to take off the suit - it smelled like Oliver and, yeah, Barry was a total sap. But off it went and he settled into his own pajamas. Then he dutifully headed across the hall to relay Thea's bribe of hot chocolate for setting up the movie room.

Once Oliver and Thea - both in pajamas and both bearing two hot cocoas each - joined them, the room was darkened (not so much that they couldn't find their drinks easily enough) and when the cocoa was finished Barry did end up curled up against Oliver's side, distracted by the shivery feeling of the other man's fingers running up and down Barry's spine.

* * *

Morning comes too early, revealing that Oliver never did manage to fulfill his idle fantasy of debauching Barry in his bed. Largely because they're still curled up together on the couch in the movie room. Someone draped a blanket over them and it's nice and warm.

Barry's blinking up at Oliver and they both grin sleepily at each other before kissing. They've both got morning breath, but neither really cares. It's worth it for the slow burn of a lingering kiss.

"Sorry to interrupt," which is clearly a lie. Tommy doesn't sound sorry at all; he sounds amused. "But Lance got his warrant. If you and Dig plan to shadow the raid on Cyrus, then you'd better get a move-on."

Barry's already getting up without having to be asked. "I've got something back at the Foundry for you," Barry said, rolling his eyes expressively at Tommy when the man 'corrected' Foundry to Arrow Cave.

"Tommy," Oliver sighed, "stop trying to make 'fetch' happen. It's not going to happen."

" _Mean Girls_ , Ollie? Really?" Tommy pouted. "Also it's totally happening. I got Dig to slip up and call it the Arrow Cave the other day. Felicity already says it. It's just a matter of time before you join us. Resistance is futile."

"Whatever." Oliver needed to change out of his pajamas first, so he headed for the bedrooms, Barry right behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, during Three Ghosts, Barry has his chemistry set in the background doing something with a suspicious green liquid in a beaker. And then when he leaves, he's somehow left behind the perfect mask for Oliver. If it's explicitly stated that Barry's chemistry project is the compressible micro fabric mask, then I clearly blinked and missed it. But I love the implication that Barry's just been quietly working on a mask for Oliver for half the episode because he's just that irritated by Oliver's use of grease paint and took Ollie's comments about his issues with masks as a challenge. (Like... he clearly did not go out and buy the mask, so it had to be his little chemistry experiment in the arrow cave...)
> 
> Anyway, we finally got the party!!! But there's definitely one more chapter after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending has arrived. :D
> 
> I feel like I should be cackling with maniacal laughter or something...

"It's made of compressed micro fabric," Barry said, looking excited. "Hopefully I got the fit right, but if there are any problems I can try again later."

"Even if it does fit right, I might have to make something up as an excuse to come see you," Oliver teased, taking the mask in hand. It felt cool and smooth in his hands and matched well with the green of his vigilante uniform. Only one way to see if it worked better than the greasepaint, though. He slid it onto his face, secured it behind his head, and then looked around, turning his head this way and that. It was a snug fit, didn't block his sight lines or peripheral vision. "So far so good. I think you made a winner, Barry."

"Good." Barry paused a beat and then said, "if I want to get back to Central at a time where Iris can give me a ride back home, I kind of have to leave now. But I... I would really like to see you again. I just... I don't know when I'd be able to come back to Starling. Probably not until January some time - December's always ridiculously busy for the CCPD. Thefts go way up..."

"Well, I've got a meeting this week that Tommy'll murder me in my sleep if I miss it," Oliver hedged, "but I might be able to visit in two weeks. If you're interested."

"I'm interested," Barry assured him. "Very, very interested."

Oliver kissed him softly before finally letting him leave. Barry had a taxi on the way and Oliver didn't want to make him miss it. Apparently Barry had enough trouble with taxis as it was.

Once Barry was out the door, Oliver turned to Dig. "Do we know where the police will be serving their warrant?"

"No. Felicity and Tommy are listening to the radio chatter on the police band, but there's nothing yet. Unfortunately, we wait."

Waiting... nothing Oliver hated more.

* * *

There is something Oliver hates more after all. He feels sick sneaking into Lance's hospital room. Just last night the detective was smiling at Laurel and fretting over Sara. And this morning he almost died.

Rationally, Oliver knows this isn't his fault. Rationally, Oliver knows he did what he could and he can't be everywhere and save everyone. Rationally, Oliver knows that he's still recovering from being poisoned and nearly dying and acknowledging his limits was the right call to make.

Guilt is not a rational emotion.

"Is that a mask?" Lance asks. "That's new."

"A gift from a friend," Oliver tells him. "I'm sorry about your partner."

"Even after what that CSI said about the theft and what you had in that file, we still underestimated him," Lance admitted, eyes distant and he grimaced in pain. "He was like a monster. I've never seen anyone fight like that before."

"I have," Oliver admitted. "If I'm right about the cause, then Gold may not be the only one out there with these abilities. It's a drug that causes permanent physiological and psychological alterations; the only visible symptoms of someone who's been dosed is bleeding from the eyes before enhanced healing kicks in. If they survive the changes long enough."

"Bleeding from the eyes," Lance muttered, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Like that Max kid..."

Oliver didn't say anything. It was Oliver Queen who'd talked to Lance about Max, not the Hood.

"What happened, the last time you saw something like this?" Lance asked, eyes growing determined.

"All those effected by the drug were killed, as was the person responsible. His research was destroyed. But his work was based off someone else's and there's no telling how many people have had access to that since his death."

"So it is possible to kill them." Lance reached over and placed something on the nightstand beside his hospital bed. A key. "I took that off Gold. But I think it'll be more use to you than to me. Get him."

Retrieving the key, Oliver nodded. "You have my word." He headed for the window.

"Be careful," Lance called after him. "You had good reason not to go after him yourself. What happened this morning - that's not your fault."

Oliver can't help but wonder if Lance would be trying to reassure him like this if he knew who was hiding beneath the hood and mask.

"Don't get yourself killed just because you have a misplaced sense of responsibility. If nothing else, remember this city is going to need you especially if there really are more like Gold running around."

A smile tugged at Oliver's face anyway. "I'll keep your concern under advisement, detective," he promised and then went back out the window.

* * *

Barry waits until the train's been in motion for about twenty minutes before he finally calls Iris. The train car he's in is relatively empty, so he's not too likely to disturb his neighbors, given the closest one is half the car away from him.

Thankfully it seems his timing was good and Iris' morning class is done with. She answers promptly with, "any pics of the vigilante's arms to share with me?"

"Sorry, Iris," he replied with a grin. "Never had the chance to see the vigilante in action." Which had the virtue of being true, even. He never actually saw Oliver kicking ass as his alter ego.

"Yeah, I guess you were too busy swanning around with Oliver Queen," Iris teased.

Barry choked and spluttered, "how did you...?"

"The society pages and Queen obsessed blogs of Starling City have all lit up with a singular question. Who is this handsome man who got breakfast with Oliver Queen yesterday morning? He was seen at the Queen's party last night, dancing with with Oliver Queen much of the night..."

"Oh god..." Barry groaned. He'd forgotten the paparazzi were even a thing. How did Oliver cope with having his life under a microscope like this and still manage to be the Hood? "Please tell me Joe has no idea."

"Clueless," Iris promised. "Seriously, though, did you sleep with Oliver Queen?"

"No. Well, only in the most technical sense. I fell asleep on him while we were watching _The Polar Express_ with Tommy and Thea last night." Barry grinned as Iris squealed excitedly. "While I can't say anything on the topic of the vigilante's arms, Oliver's are very nice. 10/10 would fall asleep held in those arms again."

"I can't believe it. You go to investigate one of your weird science obsessions and wind up on first name basis with the Queens and use Starling City's playboy as your own personal teddy bear." Iris sighed. "I'm jealous."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't exactly thrilled to meet me at first, but it turns out Oliver's a fellow vigilante fan and we bonded over trading theories on his suit and arrow choices." Admittedly, Oliver had probably just wanted to see if there was any chance Barry'd guess the truth on his own. But that did not explain the double entendre over arrow penetration that Barry was definitely going to have to keep in mind for later. That was just too good not to use to tease Oliver at some point.

"Aww, you wooed him with your nerdiness. Go you." She paused and then added, "so where'd you end up staying? I forgot to ask after your panicked texts about the lost reservation and looking into motels."

"Oh... uh... um..."

"I can practically feel you blushing through the phone. What did you do, Bartholomew Henry Allen?"

"Not the full name," he whined. "Anything but that. I mentioned it to Felicity and she volunteered Oliver to have me just stay at his place and Oliver went along with it, which is when we started talking vigilante theories, and then I met Moira Queen, who actually seemed to like me."

"Who is Felicity? Hopefully not his girlfriend if he was flirting and dancing with you last night."

"Iris..."

"I'm just saying, guy's got a reputation for cheating. I have to protect my squishy-hearted best friend, alright?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "He's not dating Felicity." Barry had actually gotten the impression there was maybe something between her and Tommy. "I mean, I did wonder at first because they're close but it turned out there was definitely nothing going on there."

"Good. Did you kiss him?"

Barry squeaked in response.

"Oh my god, you kissed him. Barry, Barry, Barry..."

"What is this judgement for?" Barry demanded. "I mean, you totally thought I had sex with him, but actually kissing him gets me the judgement voice?"

"How could you kiss him, but not get him into bed?" Iris retorted. 

"Okay, that... that maybe deserves the judgement voice." Barry rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "He wants to come visit me."

"Really? He wants to come all the way to Central City to see you again. Huh, maybe you did it right playing hard to get after all," Iris mused.

"He's not really a playboy anymore," Barry said quietly. "I mean, what was the last relationship scandal he was involved in?"

"Uh..." Iris hummed thoughtfully. "He was linked romantically to Helena Bertinelli shortly before it was revealed she was the Huntress, but that was a couple of dinners and, despite her turning out to be one of the city's vigilantes, didn't really turn into noteworthy drama. Aside from that, he's basically been single since coming back from the island. And while at first it did look like he was going back to his party-boy ways from college, that clearly didn't suit him anymore because it ended pretty quick."

"Iris," Barry asked slowly, "do you have a celebrity crush on Oliver Queen?"

"No. Of course not. Don't be silly." There was a long silence. "Maybe. Just a little."

"Can't blame you. I mean, he's a good kisser. And his arms... I did mention his arms, right? Amazing arms." He grins as Iris laughs at him.

"You're so mean, rubbing that in. You'd better introduce me to him when he does visit, Bar. Gotta put him through the third degree - celebrity crush or not, I'm not sure he's good enough for you."

"Honestly, Iris? This is the first time I've taken time off work and it felt like a real vacation." Given how the party went last night and the movie watching afterwards, it's not even a lie.

"I'm glad. Well, I've got to get to my next class. Call me when you're twenty minutes out from Central City and hopefully I'll be able to get to the station before you."

"Sounds good." Barry grinned as they ended the call.

Barry tries to read his _Star Wars_ book after that, but his mind kept wandering to the question of how the raid on Cyrus Gold went. Did the police get him? Or did they underestimate him the way Oliver clearly feared they would?

Without really thinking about it, Barry pulled his phone back out and unlocked it. Finger hovering over the texting app, he tried to figure out if it would be weird for him to text Oliver so soon... but then it was about vigilante business and not dating, so that'd be fine right? As long as he kept it vague...

He just... didn't want to come off as clingy when they hadn't really made any promises or anything like that. His inner Iris was cheering him on to go for it, though, so Barry touched the icon.

* * *

Oliver glanced at his phone, relaxing a little despite himself when he saw Barry's name on the text alert. _'How'd this morning go after I left? Good news on catching the thief?'_

 _'He got away,'_ Oliver texted back. _'Dt. Lance in hospital. Looking for new leads.'_

In fact, Felicity was looking for where the key Detective Lance gave him matched to. At which point Oliver would be going after Gold himself. He felt ready - Tommy clearly did not agree, though Thea was the only one who'd vocally argued against him going.

_'Sucks. Sorry I can't help more.'_

Oliver has to restrain himself from typing 'miss you' or something sappy like that. He barely knows the guy and what if Barry thinks he's being weird? Were relationships always this complicated and he'd just been too drunk and busy sneaking around to realize back in college? Not that this was a relationship. Yet.

 _'Your gift works well,'_ Oliver finally sent. _'Thanks.'_

"So," Felicity spoke up, "what was the consensus on Thea learning to use a bow? We sort of... missed that yesterday."

Dig snorted in amusement, adding, "what's the verdict?"

Tommy gave a very put upon sigh. "Thea and I will be attending self defense classes."

"And I will be working on increasing the strength in my arms and hands specifically while Oliver starts me on easy bows." Thea was smirking triumphantly.

"No using the bows outside the Foundry," Oliver reminded her. He suspects she wants to be out there with him, but that's going to be a whole other fight down the line. One Oliver knows that he and Tommy are going to end up losing.

"Yes, yes, no knee-capping people with arrows without permission," Thea muttered dismissively.

"And if you want to be knee-capping people with arrows with permission," Oliver told her, "then you have to pass self defense classes with me."

"Which is gonna suck once I reach that point," Thea sighed, getting them both sharp looks from Tommy.

Taking Thea aside, Oliver asked, "how are you really doing?"

She pulled him into a hug. "Tommy says you need more hugs. I suspect he's right about this."

"Not an answer," Oliver retorted, hugging her back anyway.

"I'm not happy about you risking your life all the time. I'm glad you've got Dig backing you up and Felicity doing all the tech stuff and Tommy reminding you to work smarter, not harder." Thea pulled out of the hug. "I wish you told me sooner, but I get why you didn't. We were both a mess last year and... you weren't ready to open up to those of us who love you yet. That's why you vetted strangers. People whose rejection wouldn't hurt you here," she tapped his chest over his heart.

"When'd you get so smart?" he asked softly. 

She shrugged and smirked. "I love you and I'm proud of you and you should know that I'm dragging you out with me the next time I do laser tag because you're totally going to be the ringer on my team."

Oliver laughed and ruffled her hair. "Whatever you say, Speedy."

"And that is not going to be my name on the comms. Too recognizable, especially when you say it," Thea muttered, turning petulant. 

"We could call you Dorothy," Oliver offered slyly, pitching his voice so Tommy could hear too. He snickered when both of his siblings immediately started objecting.

* * *

"Guys," Felicity called, "we've got something here. I scanned the key Lance gave you and traced the serial code back to the manufacturer. This particular key fits a locked gate installed on Crescent Circle in the Glades."

Dig didn't even need to look to know that Oliver was going for his bow. While Oliver argued with Tommy and Thea, Dig collected his guns and then went over to Felicity. "Think you can create another one of those masks in black?"

"Sure, one mask made to order coming right up." She gave him an apologetic look. "I wanted to make sure the first one actually worked before trying to make more. But the process is pretty straightforward and I can always call Barry if I run into problems."

"Thanks," Dig said, giving her shoulder a light squeeze before heading back to grab his own version of the Arrow uniform. Oliver had his greens to stand out. Dig had grays to blend in.

But it seemed Felicity had followed him back there. "Keep him safe, but... keep yourself safe too, okay? If you hadn't jumped out a window, Gold might've killed you."

"We'll both come back in one piece," Dig promised her. It seemed Oliver had convinced Tommy and Thea to back down too, since he was suited up and ready to go the same time Dig was.

"I have to head into the office," Tommy said, looking rather pissed off about it. "Someone has to get work done today." He headed out without a goodbye beyond that and Thea shook her head, not saying anything at all.

The car ride over was fairly quiet and they found the gate lock easily enough. Oliver went for an explosive entrance while Dig took the stairs while whoever was down there was distracted.

By the time Dig joined the party, there were three people down there besides Oliver. A kid tied to a chair, blood trickling down his face from his eyes, a man in a scarecrow mask, and the black-masked Cyrus Gold with two arrows sticking out of him. Dig left Gold to Oliver for the moment, taking aim at the man in the mask.

Pulling the trigger twice, he struck the man in the shoulder and the chest. Red bloomed on the man's sleeve, but he just brushed the bullet off his chest. Bullet proof armor, plus Mirakuru no doubt. Only reason the guy was still standing.

"Another failure," sighed the voice behind the modulator before he took off in the direction opposite of Dig. There must be another exit back there... Dig glanced at Oliver, but he was holding his own for now. It might be a terrible decision... but Dig gave chase.

But the man in the mask was gone by the time Dig reached the second set of stairs, the sound of screeching tires audible even with the door up top shut. He ran back to Oliver, who lay panting on the ground next to one dead Mirakuru soldier, an arrow sticking out of his throat.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Oliver croaked. "He went to throttle me the same moment I shoved an arrow through his neck. Having blood flowing into the lungs makes it hard to breathe. The other guy?"

"Got away, but I hit his arm. Bullet's still in him, but maybe he left some blood evidence behind we can ask our new friend in Central about." Dig held up a black light flashlight with a grin. "He was just full of good ideas for how to deal with crime scenes."

Oliver nodded, sitting up and massaging his own throat. "I'll get the Mirakuru while you do that."

Dig looked at the kid, unmoving, in the chair. "He didn't make it."

"No, it doesn't look that way," Oliver sounded tired. "Ivo created a reversal agent for the Mirakuru, but I don't think even that would help this kid anymore."

"But if we could recreate it, then maybe we could save some of those other kids they've been pulling off the street," Dig filled in.

"Which means we need all the information we can salvage here on the creation process. And... I'm going to need to talk to Sara again. She might remember something about all of this that I don't."

* * *

Oliver spends the rest of the day - and some of the early evening - at QC. They salvaged the information on Mirakuru and a number of vials of the drug, all of which would be useful in creating a counter-agent. But it left him distracted, thinking about Slade and wondering... could he have saved his friend, all those years ago?

He touched his neck. It had bruised, despite how brief a moment Cyrus Gold's hands had been around his neck. Oliver was lucky it wasn't worse. But the hollow of a person's throat was a weak point easy to exploit. 

They'd destroyed the centrifuge before leaving, Oliver not wanting to risk any of the Mirakuru residue permanently contaminating it... or that man in the scarecrow mask being able to retrieve the centrifuge for further use. QC didn't need that particular centrifuge at the moment, which was why it had been in storage to begin with. By the time they had the insurance money to replace it... hopefully this threat would be contained.

But in the mean time... they needed someone they could trust to develop a counter for the Mirakuru. And Oliver had no idea who that would be. Queen Consolidated had some brilliant scientists on staff but no biochemists of the caliber they'd need for a project like this. They needed someone with Ivo's genius... and the morals that man had lacked.

A problem for future Oliver, he supposed. For now, he should probably forewarn Barry that they already had a request to make of him. 

Tommy knocked on Oliver's door and then walked in without waiting for a response. "Dinner time, Ollie." He grabbed the scarf off the coat rack Oliver kept by the door. "Time to cover up that neck and head home. You sure you don't need a doctor to look that over? We can always say you got mugged."

"It's fine," Oliver insisted, getting up from his desk. "Dig checked me over."

"Dig doesn't have an x-ray machine tucked in his back pocket," Tommy grumbled.

"I was going to call Barry first, see if we can get his help running that blood sample Dig found." Oliver snatched the scarf away from Tommy and started putting on his coat anyway.

"Surprised you held out on calling him this long, considering how adorable you two looked cuddled up on the couch together last night," Tommy teased.

"Well... we did text earlier." Oliver smiled. "I'm going to visit him in Central City. Not really sure when yet, but... soon I hope."

"Good. But you still have to wait until after dinner before you call him. And I'm looking forward to the excuse you give your mom when she sees your neck."

Oliver groaned. Yeah, he was not looking forward to that.

* * *

Barry answered his phone on the second ring. "Hey Oliver," he greeted, chest all warm and swoopy.

"Hey Barry." Oliver's voice sounded a little rough.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just uh... little bruising on my neck. Present from Cyrus Gold. Though he won't be hurting anyone ever again," Oliver answered. Which probably meant Oliver had killed them man.

Barry shouldn't be okay with that. But all he felt was relief that Oliver was okay.

"His boss was there and Dig got what we think is a blood sample from the guy. Do you think you can talk Felicity through running the sample or is this something we'd need to send to you?"

"I think you've got everything you need at QC and she's got access to the database already. I should be able to talk her through it," Barry confirmed. "So I guess I'll be hearing from her later?"

"Tomorrow evening probably. She's working on another mask right now." Oliver paused a beat, then said, "so I take it you got home just fine?"

"Yeah. Iris grilled me on how I spent my time in Starling. Apparently there was some interest in the mysterious guy buying breakfast with Oliver Queen yesterday morning. Who apparently gets to drive his fancy car."

"Oh god, Barry, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about the gossip blogs."

Barry laughed, "it's fine. Iris had a field day getting to tease me about it, but got my own back too."

"So who is this Iris, anyway?"

"My foster sister, Iris West. She wants to interrogate you to be sure you're good enough for me," Barry said, the words slipping out without his permission. He felt his face blush beet red. 

"I guess that means I'm forewarned for when I come visit you," Oliver teased. "How difficult of an interrogation am I looking forward to here?"

"Uh, well, her dad's a detective, she wanted to be a cop, and she is working on her masters in psychology. So, fairly tough," Barry teased back. "I told her you're a vigilante fan."

Oliver laughed. "I have to admit, I'm much more interested in her foster brother than the vigilante."

Barry grinned and fell back against his bed. "Really? Tell me more."

* * *

_He's on the island again. Sometimes Oliver wonders if he left a piece of himself behind in this place._

_"I placed a terrible burden on you, when I gave you that book," Robert Queen said. He was standing beside Oliver, watching Oliver and not the submarine below._

_"Dad..." Oliver turned to look at him. Robert didn't belong here, did he? He was buried in the sand..._

_"I let you down in so many ways. Every father wants to be their children's hero, but I fear that in the end all I ever really did was fail you." He held out the book between them, pristine once more, not battered and the names recopied and some pages missing... not burned in the fire at Moira's hands._

_And for a moment, Oliver's back in that room, having told his mother that he got that book from Robert, that the names in it that he'd wondered about all those years were starting to match the vigilante's pattern... "Don't worry about it, Oliver. Your father's secrets died with him. If we get involved, then we'll only be putting ourselves in more danger..." He'd told her Walter had found a similar book but that it had gone missing with him. "We have to protect Thea. I can't lose anyone else."_

_But then Oliver's back on the island, on the beach this time, standing over his father's grave and the memorial for Slade and Shado he'd made years later. "Mother was put in the position of working with Malcolm on the Undertaking because of you."_

_"You're not wrong." Robert shook his head. "I was no hero. But you are capable of so much more. I have no right... but I'm so proud of you Oliver."_

Oliver blinks his eyes open as his alarm goes off, signaling the morning's come. His cheeks are wet.

"I figured out something you never did, dad," Oliver muttered softly, wiping at his face. "I don't have to carry my burdens alone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laurel doesn't know it yet, but she's totally going to owe Tommy money. (Referencing their bet from the previous chapter.)
> 
> So it's kind of hilarious that at the end of "The Scientist" Barry's rushing home to Central - or trying to anyway - because his boss has threatened his job. Then Barry's kidnapped from the train station and spends, like, two more days in Starling with no discernable repercussions to his employment. My headcanon is that it was actually Joe who'd figured it out and was now in the position of covering for Barry with Singh, thus he was very not happy about it. Barry just says its his boss because he doesn't want to explain his relationship with Joe to strangers. Admittedly, this doesn't explain why Joe wouldn't be absolutely pissed off at Barry at the start of the Flash's pilot episode, but it still makes better sense than what canon tells us. (The real answer is, of course, poor communication between writing teams for The Scientist, Three Ghosts, and the Flash Pilot...)


End file.
